Thermodynamics' first law as generator of probability distributions

June, 20 (2005) at 4pm

Angel Luis Plastino
Instituto de Fisica, Universidad Nacional de la Plata, Argentina

We show here how the first law of thermodynamics can be used to generate probability distributions for generalized ensembles. This entails that a change in microscopic level-population, if properly constrained, can be associated not only to heat but acquires a more general meaning.