Thermodynamics and Energy

1502 Submissions

[4] viXra:1502.0219 [pdf] replaced on 2015-03-26 11:55:01

The Temperature of a System as a Function of the Multiplicity and its Rate of Change

Authors: Rodolfo A. Frino
Comments: 7 Pages.

In this paper I derive the formula for the temperature of a thermodynamic system as a function of the multiplicity (number of microstates) and its the rate of change with respect to the absorbed or lost energy. Then the formula is used to obtain the “temperature-microstates- energy” relation for a black hole assuming that the number of microstates is proportional to the energy of the emitted photon through either tunnelling effect or Hawking radiation.
Category: Thermodynamics and Energy

[3] viXra:1502.0139 [pdf] submitted on 2015-02-16 16:26:35

All that Glitters is not Gold: Zero-Point Energy in the Johnson Noise of Resistors

Authors: Laszlo B. Kish, Kyle Sundqvist
Comments: 2 Pages. submitted for publication

The zero-point (quantum) term in the Johnson noise of resistors has been a controversial topic. In this talk, we add new arguments to the discussion to clarify the matter, however, open questions will still remain.
Category: Thermodynamics and Energy

[2] viXra:1502.0021 [pdf] submitted on 2015-02-03 09:33:43

A Natural Brake on Global Warming?

Authors: Colin Bruce Jack
Comments: 7 Pages.

It is possible that a negative feedback cycle is responsible for the recent global warming ‘pause’ and will delay further warming for centuries.
The only necessary assumption is that organisms with access to a free source of energy will take advantage of it. These are poikilothermic animals which migrate vertically across the ocean thermocline. The change in body temperature which results can be used to generate energy for the animal’s use, using internal chemical mechanisms whose efficiency is limited by the Carnot cycle.
Even a small rise in surface temperature greatly increases the energy available to such animals, and will tend to increase their numbers and activity. A thermodynamically inevitable consequence is that increasing quantities of heat energy will be pumped down into the mid-depths, as is already observed to be happening.[1]
Confirmation of the effect would support Jeremy England’s hypothesis[2] that life tends to dissipate energy available from the environment at the highest possible rate. At the ecosystem level, an event such as a jellyfish bloom could be described as the available biomass reorganising itself from forms which perform modest vertical transport of heat, fish which carry ~2 kg of water per kg dry weight as they migrate, to forms which perform far more: jellyfish which carry up to 20 kg of water per kg dry weight internally, and can drag even larger quantities externally.
Category: Thermodynamics and Energy

[1] viXra:1502.0007 [pdf] replaced on 2015-07-02 15:31:53

“The Theory of Heat Radiation” Revisited: A Commentary on the Validity of Kirchhoff’s Law of Thermal Emission and Max Planck’s Claim of Universality

Authors: Pierre-Marie Robitaille, Stephen J. Crothers
Comments: 13 Pages. Published in Progress in Physics, 28 Jan 2015. Revised on May 24, 2015. No copyright limitations.

Affirming Kirchhoff’s Law of thermal emission, Max Planck conferred upon his own equation and its constants, h and k, universal significance. All arbitrary cavities were said to behave as blackbodies. They were thought to contain black, or normal radiation, which depended only upon temperature and frequency of observation, irrespective of the nature of the cavity walls. Today, laboratory blackbodies are specialized, heated devices whose interior walls are lined with highly absorptive surfaces, such as graphite, soot, or other sophisticated materials. Such evidence repeatedly calls into question Kirchhoff’s Law, as nothing in the laboratory is independent of the nature of the walls. By focusing on Max Planck’s classic text, "The Theory of Heat Radiation", it can be demonstrated that the German physicist was unable to properly justify Kirchhoff’s Law. At every turn, he was confronted with the fact that materials possess frequency dependent reflectivity and absorptivity, but he often chose to sidestep these realities. He used polarized light to derive Kirchhoff’s Law, when it is well known that blackbody radiation is never polarized. Through the use of an element, dσ, at the bounding surface between two media, he reached the untenable position that arbitrary materials have the same reflective properties. His Eq. 40 (ρ =ρ′), constituted a dismissal of experimental reality. It is evident that if one neglects reflection, then all cavities must be black. Unable to ensure that perfectly reflecting cavities can be filled with black radiation, Planck inserted a minute carbon particle, which he qualified as a “catalyst”. In fact, it was acting as a perfect absorber, fully able to provide, on its own, the radiation sought. In 1858, Balfour Stewart had outlined that the proper treatment of cavity radiation must include reflection. Yet, Max Planck did not cite the Scottish scientist. He also did not correctly address real materials, especially metals, from which reflectors would be constructed. These shortcomings led to universality, an incorrect conclusion. Arbitrary cavities do not contain black radiation. Kirchhoff’s formulation is invalid. As a direct consequence, the constants h and k do not have fundamental meaning and along with “Planck length”, “Planck time”, “Planck mass”, and “Planck temperature”, lose the privileged position they once held in physics.
Category: Thermodynamics and Energy