Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Wayne Myrvold: A 2 Hour Deep Dive Into Entropy

2:05:34
 
Share
 

Manage episode 509096113 series 2804511
Content provided by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Wayne Myrvold reinterprets thermodynamics as a resource theory, arguing that the slogan “entropy always increases” follows from the second law rather than defining it. The conversation contrasts Gibbs and Boltzmann entropy, examines Maxwell’s demon, Landauer erasure, statistical bounds on Carnot efficiency, and explores implications for cosmology, ergodicity, and collapse theories, ending with pedagogical reflections and career advice.
- 00:00 - Is entropy in the system or in our minds?
- 07:12 - Original thermodynamics as a resource theory of heat and power
- 18:24 - The second law does not assume entropy; entropy requires the second law
- 30:58 - From caloric to molecular motion: historical view
- 39:04 - Maxwell's insight: why the second law is not absolute
- 48:11 - Information as a resource: knowledge and entropy
- 1:00:53 - Boltzmann vs Gibbs: objective vs subjective entropy
- 1:10:24 - Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle
- 1:25:02 - The inevitable "heat death" of the universe?
- 1:30:19 - Why "disorder" misleads
- 1:35:21 - Ergodic hypothesis: relevance and limits
- 1:43:52 - Is statistical mechanics on shaky ground (like QFT)?
- 1:50:50 - Career advice: do not join bandwagons
RESOURCES:
- Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com
- Ted Jacobson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8
- Concerning Several Conveniently Applicable Forms For The Main Equations Of The Mechanical Heat Theory [Paper]: https://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/Clausius1865.pdf
- John Norton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M
- On An Absolute Thermometric Scale [Paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Thomson_1848.pdf
- Carnot Efficiency: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Carnot_efficiency
- Maxwell's Talk On Molecules: https://victorianweb.org/science/maxwell/molecules.html
- Helmholtz Free Energy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/helmholtz-free-energy
- Boltzmann Entropy: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Western_Washington_University/Biophysical_Chemistry_(Smirnov_and_McCarty)/01%3A_Biochemical_Thermodynamics/1.05%3A_The_Boltzmann_Distribution_and_the_Statistical_Definition_of_Entropy
- Maxwell's Letter: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-CAVENDISH-P-00092/1
- Landauer's Principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135521980300039X
- On A Universal Tendency In Nature To The Dissipation Of Mechanical Energy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786445208647126
- Neil Turok [TOE]: https://youtu.be/zNZCa1pVE20
- Roger Penrose [TOE]: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU
- Sean Carroll [TOE]: https://youtu.be/9AoRxtYZrZo
- Understanding The Infinite [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Infinite-Shaughan-Lavine/dp/0674921178
- Classical Electrodynamics [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Classical_Electrodynamics-John-David-Jackson/dp/1119770769
- Why Information Is Entropy [YouTube]: https://youtu.be/8Uilw9t-syQ

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

335 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 509096113 series 2804511
Content provided by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Curt Jaimungal and Theories of Everything or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Wayne Myrvold reinterprets thermodynamics as a resource theory, arguing that the slogan “entropy always increases” follows from the second law rather than defining it. The conversation contrasts Gibbs and Boltzmann entropy, examines Maxwell’s demon, Landauer erasure, statistical bounds on Carnot efficiency, and explores implications for cosmology, ergodicity, and collapse theories, ending with pedagogical reflections and career advice.
- 00:00 - Is entropy in the system or in our minds?
- 07:12 - Original thermodynamics as a resource theory of heat and power
- 18:24 - The second law does not assume entropy; entropy requires the second law
- 30:58 - From caloric to molecular motion: historical view
- 39:04 - Maxwell's insight: why the second law is not absolute
- 48:11 - Information as a resource: knowledge and entropy
- 1:00:53 - Boltzmann vs Gibbs: objective vs subjective entropy
- 1:10:24 - Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle
- 1:25:02 - The inevitable "heat death" of the universe?
- 1:30:19 - Why "disorder" misleads
- 1:35:21 - Ergodic hypothesis: relevance and limits
- 1:43:52 - Is statistical mechanics on shaky ground (like QFT)?
- 1:50:50 - Career advice: do not join bandwagons
RESOURCES:
- Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com
- Ted Jacobson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8
- Concerning Several Conveniently Applicable Forms For The Main Equations Of The Mechanical Heat Theory [Paper]: https://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/Clausius1865.pdf
- John Norton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M
- On An Absolute Thermometric Scale [Paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Thomson_1848.pdf
- Carnot Efficiency: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Carnot_efficiency
- Maxwell's Talk On Molecules: https://victorianweb.org/science/maxwell/molecules.html
- Helmholtz Free Energy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/helmholtz-free-energy
- Boltzmann Entropy: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Western_Washington_University/Biophysical_Chemistry_(Smirnov_and_McCarty)/01%3A_Biochemical_Thermodynamics/1.05%3A_The_Boltzmann_Distribution_and_the_Statistical_Definition_of_Entropy
- Maxwell's Letter: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-CAVENDISH-P-00092/1
- Landauer's Principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135521980300039X
- On A Universal Tendency In Nature To The Dissipation Of Mechanical Energy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786445208647126
- Neil Turok [TOE]: https://youtu.be/zNZCa1pVE20
- Roger Penrose [TOE]: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU
- Sean Carroll [TOE]: https://youtu.be/9AoRxtYZrZo
- Understanding The Infinite [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Infinite-Shaughan-Lavine/dp/0674921178
- Classical Electrodynamics [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Classical_Electrodynamics-John-David-Jackson/dp/1119770769
- Why Information Is Entropy [YouTube]: https://youtu.be/8Uilw9t-syQ

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

335 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play