Author:
Ben-Naim, Arieh, 1934-
Imprint:New Jersey ; London : World Scientific, c2012.
Descriptionxxvii, 263 p. : ill. (some col) ; 24 cm.
Note:Ch. 1 Introduction: From Heat Engines to Disorder, Information Spreading, Freedom, and More -- 1.1 The Macroscopic Formulation of the Second Law -- 1.2 The Microscopic Definition of Entropy -- 1.3 The Relentless and Never-Ending Search for a Simple, Intuitive and Qualitative Interpretation of Entropy -- 1.3.1 The Association of Entropy with Disorder -- 1.3.2 The Association of Entropy with Spreading/Dispersion/Sharing -- 1.3.3 The Association of Entropy with Information -- 1.4 A Stringent Test of the Validity of any Interpretation of Entropy -- ch. 2 Forget about Entropy for a While, Let us Go and Play iGames -- 2.1 Warm-Up with the 20-Question (20 Q) Game -- 2.2 Definition of Shannon's Measure of Information for a Uniformly Distributed 20-Question Game -- 2.3 The Case of Two Outcomes -- 2.4 Shannon's Measure of Information (SMI) for the General Distribution -- 2.4.1 Definition of Shannon's Measure of Information. Contents note continued: -- 2.4.2. Some Elementary Properties of the Function H -- 2.4.3. The Case of an Infinite Number of Outcomes -- 2.5. The Various Interpretations of the Quantity H -- 2.6. Conditional and Mutual Information -- 2.7. Summary of What We Have Learnt in this Chapter -- ch. 3 The Astounding Emergence of the Entropy of a Classical Ideal Gas out of Shannon's Measure of Information -- 3.1. The Locational SMI of an Ideal Gas -- 3.2. Mutual Information due to Indistinguishability of Particles -- 3.3. The Momentum SMI -- 3.4. Mutual Information Associated with the Uncertainty Principle -- 3.5. Entropy of a Classical Ideal Gas -- 3.6. Fundamental Properties of the Entropy Function S(E, V, N) -- 3.7. Concluding Remarks -- ch. 4 Examples and Their Interpretations. Challenges for any Descriptor of Entropy -- 4.1. Expansion of an Ideal Gas -- 4.2. Processes Involving Mixing of Two Ideal Gases -- 4.2.1. Pure Mixing of Two Ideal Gases -- 4.2.2. Mixing and Expansion of Two Ideal Gases. -- 4.2.3. Demixing and Expansion of Two Ideal Gases -- 4.3. Processes Involving Assimilation of Ideal Gases -- 4.3.1. Pure Assimilation Process -- 4.3.2. Assimilation and Expansion Processes -- 4.3.3.A Spontaneous Process Involving Pure Deassimilation -- 4.3.4. Delocalization Process and Communal Entropy -- 4.4. Expansion of an Ideal Gas in a Gravitational Field -- 4.5. Processes Involving Changes in the Velocity Distribution -- 4.6. The Effect of Intermolecular Interactions -- 4.7. Three Challenging Processes -- 4.8. Conclusion -- ch. 5 Finally, Let Us Discuss the Most Mysterious Second Law of Thermodynamics -- 5.1. What Drives a Spontaneous Process? -- 5.2. What Drives the Entropy Upwards -- 5.3. Heat Flow between the Two Compartments -- 5.4. How Did the System Evolve? -- 5.5. The Association of the Second Law with the Arrow of Time -- 5.6. Does Life "Emerge" from the Second Law or Does It Defy It? -- 5.7. Conclusion.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-262) and index.
