Second Law and Non-Equilibrium Entropy of Schottky Systems—Doubts and Verification–

Meixner’s historical remark in 1969 “... it can be shown that the concept of entropy in the absence of equilibrium is in fact not only questionable but that it cannot even be defined....” is investigated from today’s insight. Several statements—such as the three laws of phenomenological thermodynamics, the embedding theorem and the adiabatical uniqueness—are used to get rid of non-equilibrium entropy as a primitive concept. In this framework, Clausius inequality of open systems can be derived by use of the defining inequalities which establish the non-equilibrium quantities contact temperature and non-equilibrium molar entropy which allow to describe the interaction between the Schottky system and its controlling equilibrium environment.

Second Law and Non-Equilibrium Entropy of Schottky Systems --Doubts and Verification--

Meixner's historical remark in 1969 "... it can be shown that the concept of entropy in the absence of equilibrium is in fact not only questionable but that it cannot even be defined...." is investigated from today's insight. Several statements --such as the three laws of phenomenological thermodynamics, the embedding theorem and the adiabatical uniqueness-- are used to get rid of non-equilibrium entropy as a primitive concept. In this framework, Clausius inequality of open systems can be derived by use of the defining inequalities which establish the non-equilibrium quantities contact temperature and non-equilibrium molar entropy which allow to describe the interaction between the Schottky system and its controlling equilibrium environment.

Ernst Käsemann and the Specter of Apocalyptic

Ernst Käsemann famously claimed that “apocalyptic was the mother of all Christian theology.” This claim is more than a merely historical remark about the origins of Christian theology. Käsemann’s work pointedly raises the question, What theological difference does it make to reclaim apocalyptic, not only as the historical-theological seedbed in which Christian theology was born, but also as the “mother” to which Christian theology today must return? I contend that Käsemann’s retrieval of apocalyptic provides an important corrective—or, more strongly put, a disruption—of what one might call the “ecclesial turn” in contemporary Protestant theology. In this article, the contemporary relevance of Käsemann’s distinctive theological voice is highlighted. I propose that the time is ripe for a Christian theology “with an apocalyptic sting.”

THE GEOMETRY OF THE HIGGS FIELD

As a historical remark the similarities are pointed out between a form of chiral action introduced by Schwinger and the formalism used in the noncommutative extensions of electromagnetism.