TY - GEN
T1 - Shannon's measure of information and the thermodynamic entropy
AU - Ben-Naim, Arieh
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - This lecture is concerned with two topics: First, we discuss the widespread confusion between a descriptor of the state of the system, and changes in the states in a spontaneous process, on one hand, and a descriptor of entropy on the other hand. The second, is concerned with a clear distinction between Shannon's Measure of Information (SMI), and the Thermodynamic Entropy. The first is defined on any distribution, and therefore it is a very general concept. On the other hand Entropy is defined on a very special set of distributions. Therefore it is suggested that this conference will be called MaxSMI rather than MaxEnt. Next we show that the Shannon measure of Information (SMI) provides a solid and quantitative basis for the interpretation of the thermodynamic entropy. For an ideal gas the entropy measures the uncertainty in the location and momentum of a particle, as well as two corrections due to the uncertainty principle and the indistinguishability of the particles.
AB - This lecture is concerned with two topics: First, we discuss the widespread confusion between a descriptor of the state of the system, and changes in the states in a spontaneous process, on one hand, and a descriptor of entropy on the other hand. The second, is concerned with a clear distinction between Shannon's Measure of Information (SMI), and the Thermodynamic Entropy. The first is defined on any distribution, and therefore it is a very general concept. On the other hand Entropy is defined on a very special set of distributions. Therefore it is suggested that this conference will be called MaxSMI rather than MaxEnt. Next we show that the Shannon measure of Information (SMI) provides a solid and quantitative basis for the interpretation of the thermodynamic entropy. For an ideal gas the entropy measures the uncertainty in the location and momentum of a particle, as well as two corrections due to the uncertainty principle and the indistinguishability of the particles.
KW - Entropy
KW - Thermodynamics, Shannon's measure of information
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861139124&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1063/1.3703629
DO - 10.1063/1.3703629
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AN - SCOPUS:84861139124
SN - 9780735410398
T3 - AIP Conference Proceedings
SP - 129
EP - 142
BT - Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering - 31st International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, MaxEnt 2011
T2 - 31st International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, MaxEnt 2011
Y2 - 9 July 2011 through 16 July 2011
ER -