I start with a discussion of the no-hair principle. The hairy black hole solutions of recent vintage do not deprive it of value because they are often unstable. Generic properties of spherical static black holes with nonvacuum exteriors are derived. These form the basis for the discussion of the new no scalar hair theorems. I discuss the generic phenomenon of superradiance for its own sake, as ...

We test the influence of the Coulomb interaction on the thermodynamic and cluster generation properties of a system of classical particles described by different lattice models. Numerical simulations show that the Coulomb interaction produces essentially a shift in temperature of quantities like the specific heat but not qualitative changes. We also consider a cellular model. The thermodynamic ...

An examination of the program of the next meeting of distillation and absorption indicates there are only a few lectures on thermodynamcis. The authors asked some important companies to give their view of the trends in thermodynamics. This plenary lecture concerns some of the remaining challenges in the thermodynamics related to distillation: data banks and locations for measuring experimental ...

Several aspects of the Thermodynamics of systems away from equilibrium are considered. Particular attention is given to the question of the concepts of entropy and temperature in arbitrary nonequilibrium conditions. Even though such state function and thermodynamic variable are elusive in such conditions, it is elaborated and discussed an approach to them that can be obtained in the framework o...

Thermodynamics is a useful tool in analyzing the characteristic properties of a system of many degrees of freedom. The equation of state gives the density of states, as well as clues to the effective degrees of freedom and their interactions, at the characteristic energy scale set by the temperature. These lectures will try to convey the idea that brane thermodynamics is a useful way of organiz...

The thermodynamics of the SU(3) gauge theory has been analyzed with tree level and tadpole improved Symanzik actions. A comparison with the continuum extrapolated results for the standard Wilson action shows that improved actions lead to a drastic reduction of finite cutoff effects already on lattices with temporal extent Nτ = 4. Results for the pressure, the critical temperature, surface tensi...

Non-perturbative studies of the thermodynamics of strongly interacting elementary particles within the context of lattice regularized QCD are being reviewed. After a short introduction into thermal QCD on the lattice we report on the present status of investigations of bulk properties. In particular, we discuss the present knowledge of the phase diagram including recent developments of QCD at n...