Reformulation of Classical Thermodynamics from Information Theory

Abstract

In this study, we present a reformulation of classical equilibrium thermodynamics by replacing the obscure and ambiguous concept of entropy with the clear and intuitive concept of information stored in a thermodynamic system. Specifically, we rewrite the laws of thermodynamics in the mathematical terminology borrowed from information theory with an emphasis on information instead of entropy and on binary logarithm instead of natural one. We also define a modified ideal gas constant denoted as $\mathcal{R}$ that quantifies the energy cost of storing or retrieving a mole of information. Moreover an application to the ideal gas is carried and new insight on the evolution of the system is acquired. This new formulation might serve as a basis to teaching thermodynamics, where one deals with the concept of energy and information both stored in a thermodynamic system and avoids the lack of cognitive representations inherent in the concept of entropy.