Scope of Thermodynamics

[foodchain]

Can you mathematically represent thermodynamic behavior of everything? If this is true, does that have any special significance?

 

For instance with the electroweak force, and the hopes of unifying all forces and or symmetry. If you can apply the concept of thermodynamics to any natural phenomena, does this tie into why science is concerned with combining fundamental forces?

 

Also Being a major component of such an endeavor as a GUT theory primarily deals with energy, does energy being a major factor itself also automatically include thermodynamics as an important component.

[ajb]

You may be interested in thermal field theory.

 

Thermal quantum field theory on wiki

 

Introduction to Thermal Field Theory by T. Altherr arXiv:hep-ph/9307277v1

 

Quantum Field Theory at Finite Temperature: An Introduction by J. Zinn-Justin arXiv:hep-ph/0005272v1

 

Advances in perturbative thermal field theory by Ulrike Kraemmer, Anton Rebhan arXiv:hep-ph/0310337v3

 

Applications of thermal field theory include quark-gluon plasmas and the cosmology of the early universe.

 

Now, more specifically to your question on the electroweak force, finite temperature transition can be studied using thermal field theory.

 

There is also non-equilibrium field theory. This is far less well understood.

Edited February 1, 2010 by ajb

[Horza2002]

For chemical processes (and I assume some physics) you can use statistical mechanics to predict the thermodynamic behaviour of a system.