2002/10/12 by Martin Ligare, Ligare, Martin
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #General Physics (physics.gen-ph) #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions #physics.ed-ph #physics.gen-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0210055
3 pages, no figures
arxiv created 2002/10/12 · openalex publication_date 2002/10/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I develop simple thermodynamic relations for a collection of noninteracting classical particles confined in a harmonic trap. The volume of such a trap is not a good thermodynamic variable, so conventional expressions of the first law of thermodynamics and the ideal gas law must be modified. I use the frequency of oscillations about the minimum of the trap as an external parameter characterizing the confinement, and derive elementary relations between particle number, temperature, energy, oscillation frequency, and a generalized pressure, that are analogous to conventional thermodynamic relations for an ideal gas in a rigid volume. I also discuss heat capacities for trapped particles.