Modelling ‘Life’ against ‘heat death’

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Michail Zak
Keyword(s):  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Liouville Equation ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Quantum Systems ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Second Law ◽  
New Class ◽  
Heat Death ◽  
The Universe

AbstractThis work is inspired by the discovery of a new class of dynamical system described by ordinary differential equations coupled with their Liouville equation. These systems called self-controlled since the role of actuators is played by the probability produced by the Liouville equation. Following the Madelung equation that belongs to this class, non-Newtonian properties such as randomness, entanglement and probability interference typical for quantum systems have been described. Special attention was paid to the capability to violate the second law of thermodynamics, which makes these systems neither Newtonian, nor quantum. It has been shown that self-controlled dynamical systems can be linked to mathematical models of living systems. The discovery of isolated dynamical systems that can decrease entropy in violation of the second law of thermodynamics, and resemblances of these systems to livings suggests that ‘Life’ can slow down the ‘heat death’ of the Universe and that can be associated with the Purpose of Life.

A model of emerging intelligence in Universe

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michail Zak
Keyword(s):  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Linear Model ◽  
Liouville Equation ◽  
Intelligent System ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Newtonian Physics ◽  
Maxwell Demon ◽  
Random Disturbances ◽  
Intelligent Life

AbstractThe paper proposes a scenario of origin and emerging of intelligent life in Universe based upon the mathematical discovery of a new class of dynamical systems described by ordinary differential equation (ODE) coupled with their Liouville equation. These systems called self-controlled since the role of actuators is played by the probability produced by the Liouville equation. Following the Madelung equation that belongs to this class, non-Newtonian and quantum-like properties such as randomness, entanglement and probability interference typical for quantum systems have been described. At the same time, these systems expose properties of livings: decomposition into motor and mental dynamics, the capability of self-identification and self-awareness, as well as self-supervision. But the most surprising discovery is the existence of a special sub-class, in which the dynamical systems can violate the second law of thermodynamics, and that makes them different from both Newtonian and quantum physics. This sub-class should be associated with intelligent livings due to capability to move from disorder to order without external help. Based upon the mathematical discovery described above, one can assume that there are good chances that similar dynamical systems representing intelligent livings exist in real physical world. This provides a reason for a ‘rehabilitation’ of the Maxwell demon and put it into physics of intelligent systems. Indeed, the Maxwell demon is implemented by the feedback from the Liouville equation to the original ODE, while this feedback is capable to rearrange the probability distribution against the second law of thermodynamics. In addition to that, the same feedback removes the entropy paradox by explaining high order in our surrounding by ‘intelligent life support’. Two-steps transition: from the Newtonian physics to the linear model of life, and from the latter to the model of intelligent life are analysed. The first transition is triggered by the Hadamard instability of the Newtonian physics with respect to small random disturbances in linear terms of the Liouville feedback. The second transition is triggered by instability of linear model of life with respect to small random disturbances of non-linear terms of Liouville feedback. This transition could be implemented by such physical phenomena as shock waves or negative diffusion in probability space. Both transitions can be associated with catastrophe theory, in which sudden shifts in behaviour arises from small changes in parameters of the model. In view of the proposed model, possible competition between artificial and human intelligence are discussed.

Time’s Arrow and Statistical Uncertainty in Physics and Philosophy

2020 ◽  
pp. 204-241
Author(s):  
Theodore M. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Statistical Uncertainty ◽  
Newtonian Mechanics ◽  
Historical School ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
Objective Chance ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Time’S Arrow

This chapter explores how German economists and statisticians of the historical school viewed the idea of social or statistical law as the product of confusion between spirit and matter or, equivalently, between history and nature. That the laws of Newtonian mechanics are fully time-symmetric and hence can be equally run backwards or forwards could not easily be reconciled with the commonplace observation that heat always flows from warmer to cooler bodies. James Clerk Maxwell, responding to the apparent threat to the doctrine of free will posed by thermodynamics and statistics, pointed out that the second law of thermodynamics was only probable, and that heat could be made to flow from a cold body to a warm one by a being sufficiently quick and perceptive. Ludwig Boltzmann resisted this incursion of probabilism into physics but in the end he was obliged, largely as a result of difficulties presented by the issue of mechanical reversibility, to admit at least the theoretical possibility of chance effects in thermodynamics. Meanwhile, the American philosopher and physicist C. S. Pierce determined that progress—the production of heterogeneity and homogeneity—could never flow from rigid mechanical laws, but demanded the existence of objective chance throughout the universe.

scholarly journals Entropy Balance in the Expanding Universe: A Novel Perspective

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Arturo Tozzi ◽  
James F. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Quantum Systems ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Quantum Vacuum ◽  
Expanding Universe ◽  
Cosmic Expansion ◽  
Thermodynamic Entropy ◽  
Local Observer ◽  
Relational Mechanism

We describe cosmic expansion as correlated with the standpoints of local observers’ co-moving horizons. In keeping with relational quantum mechanics, which claims that quantum systems are only meaningful in the context of measurements, we suggest that information gets ergodically “diluted” in our isotropic and homogeneous expanding Universe, so that an observer detects just a limited amount of the total cosmic bits. The reduced bit perception is due the decreased density of information inside the expanding cosmic volume in which the observer resides. Further, we show that the second law of thermodynamics can be correlated with cosmic expansion through a relational mechanism, because the decrease in information detected by a local observer in an expanding Universe is concomitant with an increase in perceived cosmic thermodynamic entropy, via the Bekenstein bound and the Laudauer principle. Reversing the classical scheme from thermodynamic entropy to information, we suggest that the cosmological constant of the quantum vacuum, which is believed to provoke the current cosmic expansion, could be one of the sources of the perceived increases in thermodynamic entropy. We conclude that entropies, including the entangled entropy of the recently developed framework of quantum computational spacetime, might not describe independent properties, but rather relations among systems and observers.

Dynamics of membrane processes

1968 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Katchalsky ◽  
R. Spangler
Keyword(s):  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Membrane Processes ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Intrinsic Contradiction

I. I. In his illuminating book onThe Nature of Thermodynamics, Bridgeman (1941) points out an intrinsic contradiction between the concepts of physical and biological evolution. In his words: ‘The view that the universe is running down into a condition where its entropy and the amount of disorder are as great as possible has had a profound effect on the views of many biologists on the nature of biological phenomena. It springs to the eye, however, that the tendency of living organisms is to organize their surroundings—that is to “produce” order where formerly there was disorder. Life then appears in some way to oppose the otherwise universal drive to disorder. Does it mean that living organisms do, or may violate the second law of thermodynamics?…’

scholarly journals A Study of Universal Thermodynamics in Brane World Scenario

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saugata Mitra ◽  
Subhajit Saha ◽  
Subenoy Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Chaplygin Gas ◽  
Brane World ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Modified Chaplygin Gas ◽  
Thermodynamical Equilibrium ◽  
Brane Model ◽  
Generalized Second Law ◽  
Frw Model ◽  
The Universe

A study of Universal thermodynamics is done in the framework of RSII brane model and DGP brane scenario. The Universe is chosen as FRW model bounded by apparent or event horizon. Assuming extended Hawking temperature on the horizon, the unified first law is examined for perfect fluid (with constant equation of state) and Modified Chaplygin Gas model. As a result there is a modification of Bekenstein entropy on the horizons. Further the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics and thermodynamical equilibrium are also investigated.

scholarly journals VISCOUS DARK ENERGY AND GENERALIZED SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (07) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. SETARE ◽  
A. SHEYKHI
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Time Evolution ◽  
Casimir Effect ◽  
Apparent Horizon ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Total Entropy ◽  
Generalized Second Law ◽  
The Universe

We examine the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics in a non-flat universe in the presence of viscous dark energy. First we assume that the universe is filled only with viscous dark energy. Then, we extend our study to the case where there is an interaction between viscous dark energy and pressureless dark matter. We examine the time evolution of the total entropy, including the entropy associated with the apparent horizon and the entropy of the viscous dark energy inside the apparent horizon. Our study shows that the generalized second law of thermodynamics is always protected in a universe filled with interacting viscous dark energy and dark matter in a region enclosed by the apparent horizon. Finally, we show that the the generalized second law of thermodynamics is fulfilled for a universe filled with interacting viscous dark energy and dark matter by taking into account the Casimir effect.

A unified picture of cosmological entropy on apparent horizon in F(R, G) gravity

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (33) ◽  
pp. 1750182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali İhsan Keskin ◽  
Irfan Acikgoz
Keyword(s):  
Apparent Horizon ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Hawking Temperature ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Field Equations ◽  
Frw Universe ◽  
Generalized Second Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Friedmann Robertson Walker

In this study, the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics (GSLT) has been investigated in F(R, G) gravity. We consider that the boundary of the universe is surrounded by an apparent horizon in the spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) universe, and we take into account the Hawking temperature on the horizons. The unified solutions of the field equations corresponding to gravity theory have been applied to the validity of the GSLT frame, and in this way, both the solutions have been verified and all the expansion history of the universe has been shown in a unified picture.

The motion of test particles and cosmological interpretations: the role of MOND

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Bothun
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Acoustic Power ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Newtonian Physics ◽  
Retrograde Motion ◽  
Test Particles ◽  
Newton's Second Law ◽  
Orbital Data ◽  
The Universe

Throughout history, observations of the motions of objects in the Universe have provided the foundation for various cosmological models. In many cases, the invoked causes of the observed motion appeal to mysterious elements. Indeed, the very first test motion was that of the retrograde motion of Mars, which lead to a required epicycle to save the model (e.g., Ptolemy’s unmoving Earth). By the early 1840s, from approximately 50 years of orbital data (since its 1789 discovery) it was apparent that Uranus was disobeying the Newtonian rules in its orbit and speculation mounted that a “large unseen mass” was perturbing the orbit. Using Uranus as a test particle then yields the first notion of dark matter (DM). Alas, it was not DM but merely Neptune, discovered in September 1846. By 1859 enough data had been gathered to reveal that Mercury is also not obeying Newtonian physics but rather revealing curved space–time. The continuation of this history is now set in scales larger than the Solar System. Observations suggest two basic choices: (i) gravity is fully understood and Newton’s second law is invariant (except in very strong gravity) and observed motions on galactic scales require the existence of DM (a currently unproven “epicycle”) or (ii) Newton’s second law can be modified (e.g., MOND) in certain low acceleration scale environments. In this contribution we discuss the case for and against MOND on various scales and conclude that neither MOND nor our current cosmology (ΛCDM) consistently explain all observed phenomena. In general, MOND works much better on small scales than ΛCDM but encounters difficulties on large scales. Moreover, the nature of the acoustic power spectrum of the CMB now pretty clearly shows that a fully baryonic Universe is ruled out, thus necessitating some DM component. But this should not diminish the consideration of MOND as its introduced acceleration scale; ao is fully consistent with the observed structural properties of galaxies in a way that the DM halo paradigm cannot match. Indeed, despite many attempts to falsify MOND, it has always come back from its proclaimed death to provide unique insights into the gravitational nature of galaxies, consistently raising the specter that our current understanding of gravity acting over large spatial scales may be flawed.

A Scientific Reading of Levinas’ Response to Heidegger: The Redemptive Edge of Time

KronoScope ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
David Grandy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Physical Science ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Heat Death

AbstractIn responding to Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas characterized time as revelatory and redemptive. For Levinas, Heideggerian being was self-contained and self-identical, and therefore unable to generate the sense of novel possibility which occasions the fleeting present. Something similar to Heideggerian Being may be said to have taken hold in the nineteenth century with the development of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics was portrayed as the “arrow of time” moving inevitably toward universal heat death—cosmic stasis or self-identity. I argue that modern physical science itself does not fully validate this portrayal. There are, at the metaphysical level, explanatory gaps or openings which suggest other, more hopeful possibilities. These openings, I submit, are analogous to the ruptures of otherness which Levinas identified with the generosity of being and time’s redemptive aspect.

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