首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
     


Negative,infinite, and hotter than infinite temperatures
Authors:Philip Ehrlich
Affiliation:(1) Board of Studies in Philosophy Kresge College, University of California, 95064 Santa Cruz, California, USA;(2) Department of Philosophy and History of Ideas, Brandeis University, 02254 Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Abstract:We examine the notions of negative, infinite and hotter than infinite temperatures and show how these unusual concepts gain legitimacy in quantum statistical mechanics. We ask if the existence of an infinite temperature implies the existence of an actual infinity and argue that it does not. Since one can sensibly talk about hotter than infinite temperatures, we ask if one could legitimately speak of other physical quantities, such as length and duration, in analogous terms. That is, could there be longer than infinite lengths or temporal durations? We argue that the answer is surprisingly yes, and we outline the properties of a number system that could be employed to characterize such magnitudes.
Keywords:
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号