Is temperature the speed of time? Thermal time and the Tolman effect
APA
Smerlak, M. (2010). Is temperature the speed of time? Thermal time and the Tolman effect. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/10110071
MLA
Smerlak, Matteo. Is temperature the speed of time? Thermal time and the Tolman effect. Perimeter Institute, Nov. 16, 2010, https://pirsa.org/10110071
BibTex
@misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:10110071, doi = {10.48660/10110071}, url = {https://pirsa.org/10110071}, author = {Smerlak, Matteo}, keywords = {Quantum Gravity}, language = {en}, title = {Is temperature the speed of time? Thermal time and the Tolman effect}, publisher = {Perimeter Institute}, year = {2010}, month = {nov}, note = {PIRSA:10110071 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}} }
Capital Fund Management S.A.
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract
Why is a vertical column of gas at thermal equilibrium slighly hotter at the bottom than a the top? My answer in this talk will be that time runs slower in a deeper gravitational potential, and temperature is nothing but the (inverse) speed of time. Specifically, I will (i) introduce Rovelli's notion of thermal time, (ii) use it to provide a "principle" characterization of thermal equilibrium in stationary spacetimes, and (iii) effortlessly derive the Tolman-Ehrenfest relation. This approach contrasts with the "constructive" accounts of thermal equilibrium in curved spacetimes given in the literature, and vindicates the time-temperature relationship cropping up in the Hawking-Unruh and Kubo-Martin-Schwinger relations.