Version 1
: Received: 21 October 2024 / Approved: 21 October 2024 / Online: 22 October 2024 (09:34:13 CEST)
How to cite:
Chamberlin, R. V.; Lindsay, S. M. Nanothermodynamics: There’s Plenty of Room on the Inside. Preprints2024, 2024101686. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.1686.v1
Chamberlin, R. V.; Lindsay, S. M. Nanothermodynamics: There’s Plenty of Room on the Inside. Preprints 2024, 2024101686. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.1686.v1
Chamberlin, R. V.; Lindsay, S. M. Nanothermodynamics: There’s Plenty of Room on the Inside. Preprints2024, 2024101686. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.1686.v1
APA Style
Chamberlin, R. V., & Lindsay, S. M. (2024). Nanothermodynamics: There’s Plenty of Room on the Inside. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.1686.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Chamberlin, R. V. and Stuart M. Lindsay. 2024 "Nanothermodynamics: There’s Plenty of Room on the Inside" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.1686.v1
Abstract
Nanothermodynamics provides the theoretical foundation for understanding stable distributions of statistically independent subsystems inside larger systems. In this review it is emphasized that adapting ideas from nanothermodynamics to simplistic models improves agreement with the measured properties of many materials. Examples include non-classical critical scaling near ferromagnetic transitions, thermal and dynamic behavior near liquid-glass transitions, and the 1/f-like noise in metal films and qubits. A key feature in several models is to allow separate time steps for distinct conservation laws: one type of step conserves energy and the other conserves momentum (e.g. dipole alignment). This “orthogonal dynamics” explains how the relaxation of a single parameter can exhibit multiple responses such as primary, secondary, and microscopic peaks in the dielectric loss of supercooled liquids, and the crossover in thermal fluctuations from Johnson-Nyquist (white) noise at high frequencies to 1/f-like noise at low frequencies. Nanothermodynamics also provides new insight into three basic questions. First, it gives a novel solution to Gibbs’ paradox for the entropy of the semi-classical ideal gas. Second, it yields the stable equilibrium of Ising’s original model for finite-sized chains of interacting binary degrees of freedom (“spins”). Third, it confronts Loschmidt’s paradox for the arrow of time, showing that an intrinsically irreversible step is required for maximum entropy and the second law of thermodynamics, not only in the thermodynamic limit but also in systems as small as N=2 particles.
Keywords
nanothermodynamics; fluctuations; maximum entropy; 1/f noise; ferromagnets; liquid-glass transition; Ising model; MD simulations; Gibbs’ paradox; arrow of time
Subject
Physical Sciences, Condensed Matter Physics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
