In any case, equilibrium theory as an autonomous discipline is misleading. What we want, after all, is a treatment of equilibrium in the non-equilibrium context. We would like to understand how and why systems evolve from any initially fixed macroscopic state, taking equilibrium to be just the "end point" of such dynamic evolution. So it is to the general account of non-equilibrium we must turn if we want a fuller understanding of how this probabilistic theory is functioning in physics.
What happens BTW if some supernatural entity puts His finger on the scales and violates the law of equal a priori probabilities of degenerate states?
931 posted on 12/10/2005 10:40:08 PM PST by grey_whiskers
(The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)