The temperature may be expressed as the rate of energy increase per unit increase in the state uncertainty under no-work conditions. The consequences of such a choice for heat capacities are explored. I show that the ratio of the total thermal energy to is the multiplicity exponent (log–log derivative of the multiplicity) with respect to energy, as well as the number of base- units of mutual information that is lost about the state of the system per -fold increase in the thermal energy. Similarly, the no-work heat capacity is the multiplicity exponent for temperature, making independent of the choice of the intensive parameter associated with energy (for example, vs to within a constant, and explaining why its usefulness may go beyond the detection of thermodynamic phase changes and quadratic modes.
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November 2003
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November 01 2003
Heat capacity in bits
P. Fraundorf
P. Fraundorf
Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Molecular Electronics, University of Missouri, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63121
Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
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Am. J. Phys. 71, 1142–1151 (2003)
Article history
Received:
July 15 2002
Accepted:
June 02 2003
Citation
P. Fraundorf; Heat capacity in bits. Am. J. Phys. 1 November 2003; 71 (11): 1142–1151. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1593658
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