Statistical Mechanics' Conceptual Gaps

Philosopher of physics Wayne Myrvold reframes thermodynamics as a resource theory and argues the "entropy always increases" slogan is a consequence of the second law, not the law itself. We contrast Gibbs and Boltzmann entropies, explore Maxwell's demon and Landauer erasure, relate available energy and Helmholtz free energy to agency and constraints, and examine fluctuations, Carnot efficiency as a statistical bound, macrostates vs microstates, disorder, ergodicity, cosmology and heat death, and how collapse theories would alter the story. We close with reflections on stat mech/QFT pedagogy and career advice.

00:00 Is entropy in the system or in our minds?
07:12 Original thermodynamics as a resource theory of heat and power
18:24 The second law does not assume entropy; entropy requires the second law
30:58 From caloric to molecular motion: historical view
39:04 Maxwell's insight: why the second law is not absolute
48:11 Information as a resource: knowledge and entropy
1:00:53 Boltzmann vs Gibbs: objective vs subjective entropy
1:10:24 Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle
1:25:02 The inevitable "heat death" of the universe?
1:30:19 Why "disorder" misleads
1:35:21 Ergodic hypothesis: relevance and limits
1:43:52 Is statistical mechanics on shaky ground (like QFT)?
1:50:50 Career advice: do not join bandwagons

Resources:

- Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com
- Ted Jacobson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8
- Concerning Several Conveniently Applicable Forms For The Main Equations Of The Mechanical Heat Theory [Paper]: https://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/Clausius1865.pdf
- John Norton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M
- On An Absolute Thermometric Scale [Paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Thomson_1848.pdf
- Carnot Efficiency: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Carnot_efficiency
- Maxwell's Talk On Molecules: https://victorianweb.org/science/maxwell/molecules.html
- Helmholtz Free Energy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/helmholtz-free-energy
- Boltzmann Entropy: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Western_Washington_University/Biophysical_Chemistry_(Smirnov_and_McCarty)/01%3A_Biochemical_Thermodynamics/1.05%3A_The_Boltzmann_Distribution_and_the_Statistical_Definition_of_Entropy
- Maxwell's Letter: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-CAVENDISH-P-00092/1
- Landauer's Principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135521980300039X
- On A Universal Tendency In Nature To The Dissipation Of Mechanical Energy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786445208647126
- Neil Turok [TOE]: https://youtu.be/zNZCa1pVE20
- Roger Penrose [TOE]: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU
- Sean Carroll [TOE]: https://youtu.be/9AoRxtYZrZo
- Understanding The Infinite [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Infinite-Shaughan-Lavine/dp/0674921178
- Classical Electrodynamics [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Classical_Electrodynamics-John-David-Jackson/dp/1119770769
- Why Information Is Entropy [YouTube]: https://youtu.be/8Uilw9t-syQ
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