An introduction to nonadditive entropies and a thermostatistical approach to inanimate and living matter

Abstract

The possible distinction between inanimate and living matter has been of interest to humanity for thousands of years. Clearly, such a rich question can not be answered in a single manner, and a plethora of approaches naturally do exist. However, during the last two decades, a new standpoint, of thermostatistical nature, has emerged. It is related to the proposal of nonadditive entropies in 1988, in order to generalise the celebrated Boltzmann–Gibbs additive functional, basis of standard statistical mechanics. Such entropies have found deep fundamental interest and uncountable applications in natural, artificial and social systems. In some sense, this perspective represents an epistemological paradigm shift. These entropies crucially concern complex systems, in particular those whose microscopic dynamics violate ergodicity. Among those, living matter and other living-like systems play a central role. We briefly review here this approach, and present some of its predictions, verifications and applications.