Top Research Papers on Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics serves as a universal means for studying physical systems from an energy perspective. In recent years, with the establishment of the field of stochastic and quantum thermodynamics, the ideas of thermodynamics have been generalized to small fluctuating systems. Independently developed in mathematics and statistics, the optimal transport theory concerns the means by which one can optimally transport a source distribution to a target distribution, deriving a useful metric between probability distributions, called the Wasserstein distance. Despite their seemingly unrelated nature, a...

A concise treatment of the fundamentals of thermodynamics is presented in this book. In particular, emphasis is placed on discussions of the second law, a unique feature of thermodynamics, which states the limitations of converting thermal energy into mechanical energy. The entropy function that permits the loss in the potential of a real thermodynamic process to be assessed, the maximum possible work in a process, and irreversibility and equilibrium are deduced from the law through physical and intuitive considerations. They are applicable in mitigating waste heat and are useful for solving e...

Designed to cover the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics used in engineering, the book introduces topics such as the laws of thermodynamics, exergy analysis, thermodynamic cycles, measurement theory, and applications. Using step by step examples and numerous illustrations, the book is designed with a self-teaching methodology, including a variety of exercises with corresponding answers to enhance mastery of the content. The book provides an engineer with a basic understanding or review of thermodynamic principles. Features: Designed to cover the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics used ...

Stochastic thermodynamics is a well-defined subfield of statistical physics that aims to interpret thermodynamic concepts for systems, ranging in size from a few to hundreds of nanometers, the behavior of which is inherently random due to thermal fluctuations. This growing field therefore describes the nonequilibrium dynamics of small systems, such as artificial nanodevices and biological molecular machines, which are of increasing scientific and technological relevance. This textbook provides an up-to-date pedagogical introduction to stochastic thermodynamics, guiding readers from basic conce...

The book presents concepts and equations of equilibrium thermodynamics or thermostatics. Key features that distinguish this book from others on chemical engineering thermodynamics are: a mathematical treatment of the developments leading to the discovery of the internal energy and entropy; a clear distinction between the classical thermodynamics of Carnot, Clausius and Kelvin and the thermostatics of Gibbs; an intensive/specific variable formalism from which the extensive variable formalism is obtained as a special case; a systematic method of obtaining the central equations of thermostatics w...

Transport and diffusion processes are central in numerous scientific and technical applications. Prominent examples are the temperature distribution in continuous media, the flow of liquids or gases, the dynamics of reaction-diffusion systems, or the concentration distributions in mixtures. The theoretical and numerical description of these systems is based on partial differential equations. The theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics provides a frame to derive these equations from basic conservation laws and first principles. The first part of the textbook discusses the concept of equilibriu...

Through a simple unifying argument, a sweeping generalization of so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs) is derived, which not only strengthen the bounds but extend their realm of applicability and in many cases prove their optimality, without resorting to large deviation theory or information-theoretic techniques.

A complete study of adsorption processes will be less complete if the structure and dynamics of its different elements and how they interact is not well captured. Therefore, the extensive study of adsorption thermodynamics in conjunction with adsorption kinetics is inevitable. Measurable thermodynamic properties such as temperature equilibrium constant and their non-measurable counterparts such as Gibbs free energy change, enthalpy, entropy etc. are very important design variables usually deployed for the evaluation and prediction of the mechanism of adsorption processes.

It is shown that computational thermodynamics enables the modeling of thermodynamics of a state as a function of both external and internal variables and quantitative calculations of a broad range of properties of a multicomponent system in terms of first and second derivatives of energy.

The supply and quality of water is still a problem in undeveloped or developing nations. Researchers from different countries have developed various distillation or desalination techniques among which solar distillation is a good option to obtain fresh water. Solar stills are promising technologies to meet the freshwater demand; hence intensive efforts are also made day after day to improve their design for a high productivity yield along with a cost reduction. In the present work, solar stills have been investigated based upon the thermodynamic approach for the first time in literature. A rev...

With the hype of "high entropy" alloys and more recently, "high entropy" ceramics and "high entropy" oxides (HEOs), there has been a great push to investigate and characterize systems with 5 or more components. This push has been extremely beneficial for the materials community as it has led to the development of many new systems with targeted applications. However, with our desire to find "new" and "exotic" materials, we have not spent enough time to step back and think deeply about the fundamental thermodynamic constraints that will guide design of future HEOs. Here, we present data-driven d...

A critical point is an important structure in the phase diagram of a thermodynamic system. In this work, we introduce topology to the study of black hole thermodynamics for the first time by following Duan???s topological current ??-mapping theory. Each critical point is endowed with a topological charge. We find that critical points can be divided into two classes, the conventional and the novel. Further study shows that the first-order phase transition can extend from the conventional critical point, while the presence of the novel critical point cannot serve as an indicator of the presence ...

Li-metal batteries have been emerging as attractive technologies for electrical energy storage and conversion by virtue of the ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity of lithium. However, the undesirable Li-dendrite growth upon prolonged cycling gives rise to thermal runaway, inducing tremendous safety concerns that impede the development of the technology. In general, Li nucleation and growth behavior significantly changes when the operating condition is modified through modulating temperature or thermodynamic energy to produce regulated lithium depositions. Herein, this perspective takes the...

Previously, asphaltene science had been hindered by many significant uncertainties regarding molecular weight, molecular structure, and nanocolloidal characteristics in laboratory solvents and crude oils. These debates were of sufficient magnitude to forestall development and utility of asphaltene modeling for various applications. In the last 2 decades, advances in asphaltene science using many sophisticated techniques have greatly reduced corresponding uncertainties, enabling development of simple asphaltene models for a variety of applications. Here, we provide an overview of key findings i...

Physical systems that power motion and create structure in a fixed amount of\ntime dissipate energy and produce entropy. Whether living or synthetic, systems\nperforming these dynamic functions must balance dissipation and speed. Here, we\nshow that rates of energy and entropy exchange are subject to a speed limit --\na time-information uncertainty relation -- imposed by the rates of change in\nthe information content of the system. This uncertainty relation bounds the\ntime that elapses before the change in a thermodynamic quantity has the same\nmagnitude as its initial standard deviation. Fr...

Radiative cooling is a ubiquitous passive process that uses photon heat flow to carry away energy and entropy. Radiative cooling processes have been studied in the scientific literature for many decades, but advances in nanophotonics have enabled recent breakthroughs in daytime radiative cooling, which have inspired intense research efforts in this area. Radiative cooling is now emerging as a frontier in renewable energy research, with important potential for wide ranges of applications. In this Review, we discuss the fundamental photonics and thermodynamics concepts that underlie the processe...

Focusing on Lindblad dynamics, a second bound is derived showing that coherence as a genuine quantum effect inevitably reduces the performance of slow engine cycles regardless of the driving amplitudes.

Abstract We investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics, applying Barrow entropy for the horizon entropy. The former arises from the fact that the black-hole surface may be deformed due to quantum-gravitational effects, quantified by a new exponent $$\Delta $$ Δ . We calculate the entropy time-variation in a universe filled with the matter and dark energy fluids, as well as the corresponding quantity for the apparent horizon. We show that although in the case $$\Delta =0$$ Δ = 0 , which corresponds to usual entropy, the sum of the entropy enclosed by the apparent h...

Creating, conserving and modifying the stereochemistry of organic compounds has been the subject of significant research efforts in synthetic chemistry. Most synthetic routes are designed according to the stereoselectivity-determining step. Stereochemical editing is an alternative strategy, wherein the chiral-defining or geometry-defining steps are independent of the construction of the major scaffold or complexity. It enables late-stage alterations of stereochemistry and can generate isomers from a single compound. However, in many instances, stereochemical editing processes are contra-thermo...

This work uses quantum estimation theory to derive a thermodynamic uncertainty relation in Markovian open quantum systems, which bounds the fluctuation of continuous measurements, and shows that there exists a universal bound upon the fluctuations, regardless of continuously measurements.