Outline of the present approach

Abstract

As already indicated in previous chapters we intend to explain the validity of the laws of thermodynamics on the basis of quantum dynamics as given by the Schrödinger equation. In this chapter we provide the background of this approach which does not rely on ergodicity, mixing, etc., but on the concept of "typicality". The importance of a system-environment scheme for a concise definition of entropy and the role of entanglement in this context is discussed. Furthermore we investigate the nature of thermodynamical uncertainties (often referred to as "fluctuations"). Within this quantum version of the typicality approach these uncertainties appear as quantum uncertainties and are thus of fundamental nature. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.