[Fis] Distribution of Energy is (not) the same as disorder

From: Jerry_Lr_ Chandler <[email protected]>
Date: Thu 16 Sep 2004 - 05:19:06 CEST

Dear Michel, Stan, Loet and all:

Your responses barely skimmed the surface of the problems raised by the issue of renaming "entropy" as distribution of energy.

Michel, thank you for articulating a crisp logical approach to the basic issue for renaming entropy as energy distribution. It is very very helpful to have a such a crisp separation of meanings as we can then proceed with deductive in an unambiguous manner. For those who seek an empirical base for the natural sciences, deductive argumentation is essential.

The logical precedence for the term "distribution" is also critical to the discussion. Michel points out the precedence for the use of distribution in both probability theory and in estimating the center of mass in mechanical systems. This usage is quite consistent and in accordance with the precedence of the root term, tribute or tributary. The concept of distribution allows for the specificity of the distributing processes.

Stan, can you provide precedence for the usage of the term "dispersion" in this context?
How is the term "dispersion" related to the empirical phenomenon of interest?
In particular, what sort of narrative can you construct that links dispersion to other thermodynamic variables?
Further, since the distribution of heat energy within a molecule is an accurate narrative for the empirical spectral evidence, can you propose a stronger narrative for relating the concept of dispersion (scattering) to empirical spectral evidence?

 Loet, I do not understand your assertion:

It seems to me that this semantics might distance the thermodynamic concept of entropy from the probabilistic one.

As pointed out above in my response to Stan, the narrative is rather precise when applied to atomic and molecular phenomenon.

Are you considering some other (non-physical?) source of your view of the distribution of vibrational states of a molecule?

Dr. Lin remark is accepted in a humorous vain. It could also be read as a denial of objectivity of entropy and distribution of energy within a molecule.
Recent work on the use of "tuned" micro waves to catalysis of specific chemical reactions seem to support the distribution of internal energy within a molecule as an objective, empirical fact.

What other choices are available?
Does the distribution hypothesis become consistent with the role of catalysis in biochemistry?
Does the distribution hypothesis become consistent with the role of emergence in biochemical systems?
Does the distribution hypothesis become consistent with ecosystem phenomenology?

Do any substantial arguments prevent the substitution of these terms for disorder within the context of thermodynamical deductive arguments?

Cheers

Jerry LR Chandler
 

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Received on Thu Sep 16 05:20:46 2004

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