Abstract
Finite segments of infinite chains of classical coupled harmonic oscillators are treated as models of thermodynamic systems in contact with a heat bath, i.e., canonical ensembles. The Liouville function ρ for the infinite chain is reduced by integrating over the "outside" variables to a function ρN of the variables of the N-particle segment that is the thermodynamic system. The reduced Liouville function ρN which is calculated from the dynamics of the infinite chain and the statistical knowledge of the coordinates and momenta at t = 0, is a time-dependent probability density in the 2N-dimensional phase space of the system. A Gibbs entropy defined in terms of ρN measures the evolution of knowledge of the system (more accurately, the growth of missing pertinent information) in the sense of information theory. As |t
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 393-414 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Journal of Statistical Physics |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 1969 |
Keywords
- Liouville function
- approach to equilibrium
- coupled harmonic oscillators
- entropy
- information theory
- nonequilibrium statistical mechanics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Mathematical Physics