Category: entropy
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Why God plays dice: A pedagogical and accurate explanation of the second law
The second law of thermodynamics has taken a supreme place in the hall of fame of universal laws, owing to its time-asymmetric character and its countless applications in engineering, biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy. Yet, it also holds a supreme place as one of the most mystic natural laws that “nobody really understands”. But luckily…
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Dialogue with Matteo Polettini about the second law
The second law of thermodynamics is one of the bedrocks of science. It sticks out due to its defeatism, it has become an integral part of pop culture, economics and politics, and it is constantly mystified because “no one really knows what entropy really is” (J. von Neumann). In this dialogue physicists Matteo Polettini and…
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What is a Boltzmann brain?
If you thought the name of this blog comes from me thinking to be a reincarnation of Boltzmann, then you were almost but not quite right. Boltzmann’s brain is a serious scientific paradox at the intersection of statistical physics and cosmology with the (still serious) consequence that the Universe could be filled with zombies, including…