Wayne Myrvold: A 2 Hour Deep Dive Into Entropy
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
00:00
What Is a Macrostate?
Wayne explains defining macrostates via coarse-graining, measurement precision, and why Boltzmann entropy depends on that choice.
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Episode notes
Wayne Myrvold reinterprets thermodynamics as a resource theory, arguing that the slogan “entropy always increases” follows from the second law rather than defining it. The conversation contrasts Gibbs and Boltzmann entropy, examines Maxwell’s demon, Landauer erasure, statistical bounds on Carnot efficiency, and explores implications for cosmology, ergodicity, and collapse theories, ending with pedagogical reflections 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
- 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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