Thermodynamics – What Is Temperature: Function of Energy or Value in Thermal Equilibrium?

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As far as I remember, many textbooks on statistical physics introduce temperature as a condition of equilibrium of a composite thermodynamic system. E.g., if the system consists of two parts with energies $E_1,E_2$, and the total energy is fixed, $E=E_1+E_2$, then maximizing the entropy (and neglecting the small contributions due to the interactions on the systems borders) we have:
$$
\frac{d}{dE_1}\left[S_1(E_1) + S_1(E-E_1)\right]=S_1'(E_1) – S_2'(E-E_1)=0\\\Rightarrow S_1'(E_1) = S_2'(E-E_1)\\\Rightarrow E_1^*, \frac{1}{T}=S_1'(E_1^*)=S_2'(E-E_1^*)
$$

The temperature is thus a value of the derivative of the entropy (logarithm of the number of the microstates at thermal equilibrium, but not the derivative itself (the difference between a function and a value of this function at a specific point, contrary to what is suggested in this question, which motivated me to ask mine.)

What I miss here is the transition from this definition of temperature to the condition of thermal equilibrium as the equality of temperatures – this means that the temperature must be defined for each subsystem independently. So, is the temperature a function (of energy) or a value of a function at thermal equilibrium?

Best Answer

The definition of temperature is $$ T = \left(\frac{\partial S}{\partial E}\right)_{V,N} $$ and as such it is a function of $E$, $V$ and $N$: $$ T = T(E,V,N) $$ The value of $T$ at a particular state is the numerical value of this function at the energy, volume and number of moles in that state.

If you have two systems you can can calculate their temperatures. If they are equal, the systems are in thermal equilibrium.

In other words, the equilibrium condition requires the value of tyemperature to be the same in both systems, not the functions: $$ \underbrace{T(E_1,V_1,N_1)}_{T_1} = \underbrace{T(E_2,V_2,N_2)}_{T_2} $$ which we write more conventionally as $$T_1 = T_2$$

I suspect the confusion arises from the common mathematical notation, $v = v(t)$, which assigns the same symbol $v$ to both the function (e.g., velocity as a function of time) and the value of the function at some specific $t$ (as in $v=0$ at $t=0$).

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