Riassunto
A small army of physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and engineers has joined forces to attack a classic problem, the reversibility paradox , with modern tools. This book describes their work from the perspective of computer simulation, emphasizing the author's approach to the problem of understanding the compatibility, and even inevitability, of the irreversible second law of thermodynamics with an underlying time-reversible mechanics. Computer simulation has made it possible to probe reversibility from a variety of directions and chaos theory or nonlinear dynamics has supplied a useful vocabulary and a set of concepts, which allow a fuller explanation of irreversibility than that available to Boltzmann or to Green, Kubo and Onsager. Clear illustration of concepts is emphasized throughout, and reinforced with a glossary of technical terms from the specialized fields which have been combined here to focus on a common theme.The book begins with a discussion, contrasting the idealized reversibility of basic physics against the pragmatic irreversibility of real life. Computer models, and simulation, are next discussed and illustrated. Simulations provide the means to assimilate concepts through worked-out examples. State-of-the-art analyses, from the point of view of dynamical systems, are applied to many-body examples from nonequilibrium molecular dynamics and to chaotic irreversible flows from finite-difference, finite-element, and particle-based continuum simulations. Two necessary concepts from dynamical-systems theory fractals and Lyapunov instability are fundamental to the approach.Undergraduate-level physics, calculus, and ordinary differential equations are sufficient background for a full appreciation of this book, which is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduates, and research workers. The generous assortment of examples worked out in the text will stimulate readers to explore the rich and fruitful field of study which links fundamental reversible laws of physics to the irreversibility surrounding us all.This new edition includes considerable new material on shockwaves, Lyapunov spectra and fluctuations.
Recensione
"Bill and Carol Hoover have teamed up to produce this greatly expanded new edition of Bill's earlier book grappling with one of the oldest problems in physics - reconciling the irreversibility of thermodynamics with the reversibility of Newtonian mechanics. It represents a personal account of a lifetime of research, including insights provided by advances in chaos, fractals, and computer simulation. It is the best source for anyone seeking a deep understanding of these seemingly paradoxical basic laws of physics."-- Julien Clinton Sprott, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Author of Chaos and Time-Series Analysis and Elegant Chaos "The second edition with over 100 pages of new material, gives an up-to-date and distinctive treatment of physical issues, emphasizing the need for a holistic view incorporating theory, simulation and experiment... It provides rich inspiration and insight for graduate students and more experienced researchers alike. This work challenges philosophers and mathematicians to engage with the latest numerical and experimental findings, and practitioners of quantum chaos and nanotechnology to incorporate and extend the underpinning classical irreversibility." --Dr Carl Dettmann, University of Bristol
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