Chaotic Dynamics and the Origin of Statistical Laws

AUG 01, 1999

Chaotic dynamics in real systems does not provide finite relaxation time to equilibrium or fast decay of fluctuations, and chaotic systems are not completely random in the sense originally postulated for statistical systems. These properties may require rethinking some of the fundamental assumptions of thermodynamics.

DOI: 10.1063/1.882777

George M. Zaslavsky

The problem of the foundation of statistical physics emerged with the derivation by Ludwig Boltzmann of a kinetic equation for a gas of molecules that required monotonic growth of entropy. Boltzmann’s theory leads to modern thermodynamics, and, for example, to the impossibility of gas spontaneously gathering in one part of a container in the absence of external forces. This result, known as the H‐theorem, met with strong contemporary opposition, especially from mathematician Ernst Zermelo.

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More about the authors

George M. Zaslavsky, New York, University.