Violation of the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics in Systems with Negative Specific Heat

Abstract

We show that systems with negative specific heat can violate the zeroth law of thermodynamics. By both numerical simulations and by using exact expressions for free energy and microcanonical entropy it is shown that if two systems with the same intensive parameters but with negative specific heat are thermally coupled, they undergo a process in which the total entropy increases irreversibly. The final equilibrium is such that two phases appear, that is, the subsystems have different magnetizations and internal energies at temperatures which are equal in both systems, but that can be different from the initial temperature.

arXiv commentPhysical Review Letters, 100, 120601 (2008)

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• Super-statistical description of thermo-magnetic properties of a system of 2D GaAs quantum dots with gaussian confinement and Rashba spin-orbit interaction
• Remarks about the thermodynamics of astrophysical systems in mutual interaction and related notions
• The zeroth law in quasi-homogeneous thermodynamics and black holes
• Getting hotter by heating less: How driven granular materials dissipate energy in excess
• Improving the efficiency of Monte Carlo simulations of systems that undergo temperature-driven phase transitions
• Temperature gradients in equilibrium: small microcanonical systems in an external field
• Extended canonical Monte Carlo methods: Improving accuracy of microcanonical calculations using a re-weighting technique
• Ensemble equivalence in spin systems with short-range interactions
• Non-equilibrium dynamics in the quantum Brownian oscillator and the second law of thermodynamics
• An approach to the quasi-equilibrium state of a self-gravitating system