Third Law of Thermodynamics and Electromagnetic Zero-Point Radiation

Abstract

It is pointed out that the third law of thermodynamics, which has been verified experimentally for systems with electromagnetic interactions, is not part of traditional classical theory, and indeed is violated by hypothetical systems, such as an ideal gas, which exhibit equipartition of energy. In the context of quantum theory, the law may be understood from the description of thermodynamic systems as quantum systems having discrete energy levels. Along the same lines as a recent derivation of the blackbody radiation spectrum from classical theory involving classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation, it is shown that the third law holds in classical theory for all thermodynamic systems which interact (no matter how weakly) with electromagnetic radiation.