The ambiguous meaning of irreversibility

X. de Hemptinne

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The ambiguous meaning of irreversibility

X. de Hemptinne

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Abstract

Irreversibility of spontaneous macroscopic dynamics and its asymmetry with respect to the sign reversal of the variable $t$ is usually interpreted as a genuine property of complex isolated systems. Discussion of the kinetics involved in Joule's experiment concerning spontaneous expansion of a gas shows that the isolation hypothesis results from ambiguous definitions of a number of keywords. Whereas Poincaré's apparent irreversibility result from conservative Hamiltonian dynamics, full relaxation implies interaction with the outside world. Only the latter process leads to entropy change.

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X. de Hemptinne. 1999-01-30. The ambiguous meaning of irreversibility. https://arxiv.org/abs/chao-dyn/9502004

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