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<p>Much of the century-old debate surrounding the status of thermodynamics in relativity has centered on the search for a suitably relativistic temperature; recent works by Chua (Philosophy of Science 90, 2023) and Chua and Callender (The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, forthcoming) have suggested that the classical temperature concept – consilient as it is in classical settings – “falls apart” in relativity. However, these discussions typically assume an unproblematic Lorentz transformation for – specifically, the Lorentz <i>invariance</i> of – the pressure concept. Here I argue that, just like the classical temperature, the classical concept of pressure breaks down in relativistic settings. I discuss how this might suggest a new thermodynamic limit – a <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\boldsymbol{u} \to 0\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> limit – without which an unambiguous thermodynamic description of systems doesn’t emerge.</p>

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Putting pressure under pressure: on the status of classical pressure in special relativity

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月26日

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  • Eugene Y. S. Chua

摘要

Much of the century-old debate surrounding the status of thermodynamics in relativity has centered on the search for a suitably relativistic temperature; recent works by Chua (Philosophy of Science 90, 2023) and Chua and Callender (The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, forthcoming) have suggested that the classical temperature concept – consilient as it is in classical settings – “falls apart” in relativity. However, these discussions typically assume an unproblematic Lorentz transformation for – specifically, the Lorentz invariance of – the pressure concept. Here I argue that, just like the classical temperature, the classical concept of pressure breaks down in relativistic settings. I discuss how this might suggest a new thermodynamic limit – a \(\boldsymbol{u} \to 0\) limit – without which an unambiguous thermodynamic description of systems doesn’t emerge.