The microscopic origin of thermodynamic irreversibility

by Prof. Michael ter Vrugt (University of Münster)

Thursday 23 Feb 2023, 11:00 → 12:30 Europe/Rome

1/3-1 - Sala R (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia - Edificio Marzolo)

The fact that isolated systems universally approach equilibrium - for example, that a cup of hot coffee left alone in a cold room will cool down rather than spontaneously heat up - is considered one of the most fundamental laws of physics. However, from the perspective of microscopic physics, which is governed by time-reversal invariant dynamic equations, there is no reason why the coffee should not heat up, or more generally, why entropy should not spontaneously decrease. In this talk, I will provide a discussion of this problem, how it might be solved, and how it is related to quantum mechanics and the interpretation of probability.