期刊
STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN PHYSICS
卷 36B, 期 2, 页码 225-244出版社
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2004.05.004
关键词
thermodynamic limit; scaling; theory reduction; critical phenomena; idealizations
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics are related to one another through the so-called thermodynamic limit in which, roughly speaking the number of particles becomes infinite. At critical points (places of physical discontinuity) this limit fails to be regular. As a result, the reduction of Thermodynamics to Statistical Mechanics fails to hold at such critical phases. This fact is key to understanding an argument due to Craig Callender to the effect that the thermodynamic limit leads to mistakes in Statistical Mechanics. I discuss this argument and argue that the conclusion is misguided. In addition, I discuss an analogous example where a genuine physical discontinuity-the breaking of drops-requires the use of infinite idealizations. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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