Some recent ideas are generalized from four dimensions to the general dimension n. Two terms of the trace anomaly in external gravity, the Euler density Gn and 2 R, are relevant to the problem of quantum irreversibility. By adding the divergence of a gauge-invariant current, Gn can be extended to a new notion of Euler density G̃n, linear in the conformal factor. We call it pondered Euler density...

Cartan's di®erential topology is used to construct a method for determining if a process applied to a physical system is thermodynamically irreversible.

Research ...nds that ...rms’ investment decisions are distorted by irreversibility and ...nance constraints. Whereas the existing literature examines the e¤ects of these features separately, this paper studies their interaction. The impact of these constraints on a ...rm’s incentive to invest is characterised using option pricing techniques. Financial constraints reduce the initial capacity, ra...

We show that for a large class of stationary Markov processes the total variation distance between the final equilibrium distribution and that at a given time is a strongly monotonic vanishing function. We illustrate this for basic paradigmatic processes and discuss how, for systems susceptible to a canonical description, this can be interpreted as a statistical arrow of time that exists beside...

The relation between the second law of thermodynamics and the notion of irreversibility is analysed by distinguishing three different meanings of the latter and studying how they figure in several versions of the second law. A more extensive discussion is given in [1]. 1. THREE CONCEPTS OF (IR)REVERSIBILITY Many physical theories employ a state space Γ containing all possible states s of a syst...

The trace anomaly in external gravity is the sum of three terms at criticality: the square of the Weyl tensor, the Euler density and 2R, with coefficients, properly normalized, called c, a and a ′ , the latter being ambiguously defined by an additive constant. Unitarity and positivity properties of the induced actions allow us to show that the total RG flows of a and a ′ are equal and therefore...

A kinetics built upon q-calculus, the calculus of discrete dilatations, is shown to describe diffusion on a hierarchical lattice. The only observable on this ultrametric space is the “quasi-position” whose eigenvalues are the levels of the hierarchy, corresponding to the volume of phase space available to the system at any given time. Motion along the lattice of quasi-positions is irreversible....

SUMMARY In this paper we consider optimal trading processes in economic systems. The analysis is based on accounting for irreversibility factor using wealth function concept.

Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Irreversibility and exergy cost 2. Definitions and concepts 3. Cost accounting and the exergy cost theory 3.1. Calculation of average exergy costs 3.2.