"Reversed Reduction" in Gibbsian Statistical Mechanics - a podcast by MCMP Team

Ronnie Hermens (Groningen) gives a talk at the MCMP conference "Reduction and Emergence in the Sciences" (14-16 November, 2013) titled "'Reversed Reduction' in Gibbsian Statistical Mechanics". Abstract: Statistical mechanics is the branch of physics which uses probability theory to describe and explain the macroscopic behavior of many particle systems in terms of the mechanical behavior of their constituents. Part of this macroscopic behavior is independently captured by thermodynamics. In this talk I will lay out some difficulties with the purported reduction of thermodynamics to Gibbsian statistical mechanics. The explanatory power of the use of probabilities will be evaluated with respect to the interpretation of probability adopted. I will argue that a consistent reading of statistical mechanics requires that probabilities are motivated by thermodynamics rather than providing an explanation for it.

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