Principles of Thermodynamics

Jean-Philippe Ansermet is a Professor of Physics at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Fellow of the American Physical Society and past President of the Swiss Physical Society. He coordinated the teaching of physics at EPFL for twelve years. His course on mechanics, taught for twenty-five years, was based on his texbook and a MOOC that has generated over a half million views. For more than fifteen years, he has taught thermodynamics to engineering and physics students. An expert in spintronics, he applies thermodynamics to analyse his pioneering experiments on giant magneto-resistance or heat-driven spin torques, and to predict novel effects. Sylvain D. Bréchet completed his Ph.D. studies in theoretical cosmology at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge as an Isaac Newton fellow. He is University lecturer at the Institute of Physics at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He is teaching mechanics, thermodynamics and electromagnetism to first year students. His current research focuses on theoretical modelling in condensed matter physics and more particularly in spintronics. Merging the fields of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, continuum mechanics and electromagnetism, he brought new insight to spintronics and fluid mechanics. In particular, he predicted in 2013 the existence of a fundamental irreversible thermodynamic effect now known as the Magnetic Seebeck effect.

Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Foundations: 1. Thermodynamic system and first law; 2. Entropy and second law; 3. Thermodynamics of subsystems; 4. Thermodynamic potentials; Part II. Phenomenology: 5. Calorimetry; 6. Phase transitions; 7. Heat engines; 8. Chemistry and electrochemistry; Part III. Continuous Media: 9. Matter and electromagnetic fields; 10. Thermodynamics of continuous media; 11. Thermodynamics of irreversible processes; Part IV. Exercises and Solutions: 12. Thermodynamic system and first law; 13. Entropy and second law; 14. Thermodynamics of subsystems; 15. Thermodynamic potentials; 16. Calorimetry; 17. Phase transitions; 18. Heat engines; 19. Chemistry and electrochemistry; 20. Matter and electromagnetic fields; 21. Thermodynamics of continuous media; 22. Thermodynamics of irreversible processes; References; Index.