Bryan Roberts Rebuilds Thermodynamics on Gauge Theory
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- Bryan Roberts at the London School of Economics and Political Science presented a reformulation of thermodynamics using gauge theory, drawing on geometry and quantum field theory, at the Foundations of Physics conference in Irvine, California, on 16 June.
- Roberts' framework treats work and heat asymmetrically: directly manipulable quantities like a piston occupy an 'observable' space, while inaccessible heat energy lives in a hidden 'bundle' space — a departure from traditional thermodynamics, which places work and heat on equal footing.
- Temperature and entropy are redefined as specific projections from the bundle space onto the observable space, yielding what Roberts calls a more geometrical definition of entropy applicable to systems ranging from engines to black holes.
- Roberts anticipates that preliminary experiments with molecular junctions could demonstrate a thermodynamic analog of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, in which particles appear to be influenced by a hidden magnetic field.
- Lucas Céleri at the Federal University of Goiás called Roberts' idea 'beautiful' and complementary to his own team's parallel effort to cast quantum thermodynamics as a gauge theory, noting that quantum thermodynamics currently suffers from proliferating, conflicting definitions of heat and work.
- Both groups identify reconciling gauge-based thermodynamics with Einstein's special relativity as the next major hurdle, one Céleri says gauge mathematics may be better suited to clear than traditional approaches.
Why it matters: A mathematically rigorous thermodynamics could dissolve long-standing ambiguities in how heat and work are defined, especially in quantum systems where competing definitions have proliferated. If the gauge framework holds experimentally, physicists gain a single consistent toolkit linking classical engines, quantum systems, and black holes on the same geometric footing.
