Thermodynamic Entropy And Temperature Rigorously Defined Without Heuristic Use Of The Concepts Of Heat And Empirical Temperature

Abstract

The physical foundations of a variety of emerging technologies — ranging from the applications of quantum entanglement in quantum information to the applications of non-equilibrium bulk and interface phenomena in microfluidics, biology, materials science, energy engineering, etc. — require understanding thermodynamic entropy beyond the equilibrium realm of its traditional definition. This article presents a rigorous logical scheme that provides a generalized definition of entropy free of the usual unnecessary assumptions, which constrain the traditional treatments to the equilibrium domain.