Quantum thermodynamics addresses the emergence of thermodynamic laws from quantum mechanics. The viewpoint advocated is based on the intimate connection of quantum thermodynamics with the theory of open quantum systems. Quantum mechanics inserts dynamics into thermodynamics, giving a sound foundation to finite-time-thermodynamics. The emergence of the 0-law, I-law, II-law and III-law of thermod...

The principle of "a calorie is a calorie," that weight change in hypocaloric diets is independent of macronutrient composition, is widely held in the popular and technical literature, and is frequently justified by appeal to the laws of thermodynamics. We review here some aspects of thermodynamics that bear on weight loss and the effect of macronutrient composition. The focus is the so-called m...

The second law of thermodynamics places constraints on state transformations. It applies to systems composed of many particles, however, we are seeing that one can formulate laws of thermodynamics when only a small number of particles are interacting with a heat bath. Is there a second law of thermodynamics in this regime? Here, we find that for processes which are approximately cyclic, the sec...

The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Evolution, and Probability Does evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics? Creationists say yes. This article describes in detail why the creationists are wrong. Attributing False Attributes to Thermodynamics Creationists have created a 'voodoo' thermodynamics based solely on metaphors in order to convince those not familiar with real thermodynamics th...

Buildings, which are in fact ecosystems (living and inanimate organisms interacting together), are nowadays conceived and operated on the base of energy assessments underpinned by the first law of thermodynamics, and design strategies work towards energy conservation. Different approaches, based on the second law of thermodynamics, exist in research; they use the thermodynamic function called e...

The third law of thermodynamics constrains the phase diagram of systems with a first-order quantum phase transition. For a zero conjugate field, the coexistence curve has an infinite slope at T=0. If a tricritical point exists at T>0, then the associated tricritical wings are perpendicular to the T=0 plane, but not to the zero-field plane. These results are based on the third law and basic ther...

We investigate the first law of thermodynamics in the case of the (2+1)-dimensional BTZ black holes and Kerr-de Sitter spacetimes, in particular, we focus on the integral mass formulas. It is found that by assuming the cosmological constant as a variable state parameter, both the differential and integral mass formulas of the first law of black hole thermodynamics in the asymptotic flat spaceti...