Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box
The equilibrium and fluctuations of an ideal gas in a rigid container are studied by every student of statistical mechanics. Here, we examine the less well-known case when the box is floating freely; in particular, we determine the fluctuations of the box in velocity and position due to interactions...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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AIP Publishing
2021
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| _version_ | 1826263030926671872 |
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| author | Tremaine, S Kocsis, B Loeb, A |
| author_facet | Tremaine, S Kocsis, B Loeb, A |
| author_sort | Tremaine, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The equilibrium and fluctuations of an ideal gas in a rigid container are studied by every student of statistical mechanics. Here, we examine the less well-known case when the box is floating freely; in particular, we determine the fluctuations of the box in velocity and position due to interactions with the gas it contains. This system is a toy model for the fluctuations in velocity and position of a black hole surrounded by stars at the center of a galaxy. These fluctuations may be observable in nearby galaxies.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:45:13Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:220ff076-eb67-42aa-a0cf-74edd2c3d4dc |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:45:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | AIP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:220ff076-eb67-42aa-a0cf-74edd2c3d4dc2022-03-26T11:36:44ZThermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating boxJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:220ff076-eb67-42aa-a0cf-74edd2c3d4dcEnglishSymplectic ElementsAIP Publishing2021Tremaine, SKocsis, BLoeb, AThe equilibrium and fluctuations of an ideal gas in a rigid container are studied by every student of statistical mechanics. Here, we examine the less well-known case when the box is floating freely; in particular, we determine the fluctuations of the box in velocity and position due to interactions with the gas it contains. This system is a toy model for the fluctuations in velocity and position of a black hole surrounded by stars at the center of a galaxy. These fluctuations may be observable in nearby galaxies. |
| spellingShingle | Tremaine, S Kocsis, B Loeb, A Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title | Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title_full | Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title_fullStr | Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title_short | Thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free-floating box |
| title_sort | thermal equilibrium of an ideal gas in a free floating box |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tremaines thermalequilibriumofanidealgasinafreefloatingbox AT kocsisb thermalequilibriumofanidealgasinafreefloatingbox AT loeba thermalequilibriumofanidealgasinafreefloatingbox |