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Can Entropy and the Second Law be Applied to the Entire Universe?

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2018)

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this special issue of Entropy is to discuss and provide answers to the two questions posed in the title. Clausius, who introduced the concept of entropy, also formulated the Second Law:

“The Entropy of the Universe always increases”

Ever since Clausius made this statement people have discussed the concept of entropy and the Second Law in connection with the entire universe.  Many popular science books show graphs of the “Entropy of the Universe” in the past and in the future. Some even discuss the value of the entropy of the universe at the Big-Bang. On the other hand, many textbooks would tell you that since entropy always increases, the universe will come to a “Thermal death” in the far future.

There are essentially two distinguishable questions: The first, concerns the possibility of defining entropy, and the second, concerns the applicability of the Second Law to the entire universe. Most writers on thermodynamics intertwine these two questions. In fact, most people define the Second Law as “the law of increasing entropy.” In fact one can define, interpret, and apply the concept of entropy without ever mentioning the Second Law. By the same token, one can also formulate, interpret and apply the Second Law without mentioning the concept of entropy.

Thus we pose two fundamental questions for this special issue:

Can entropy be defined in a consistent way for the entire universe?

Can one show that the Second Law is applicable to the entire universe?

Prof. Dr. Arieh Ben-Naim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Entropy
  • Second Law
  • Thermodynamics
  • Universe
  • Free energy

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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