xiv Challenges to the Second Law no experimental violation has been claimed and confirmed.In this volume we will attempt to remain clear on this point;that is,while the second law might be potentially violable,it has not been violated in practice.This being the case,it is our position that the second law should be considered absolute unless experiment demonstrates otherwise.It is also our position,however,given the strong evidence for its potential violability,that inquiry into its status should not be stifled by certain unscientific attitudes and practices that have operated thus far. This volume should be of interest to researchers in any field to which the sec- ond law pertains,especially to physicists,chemists and engineers involved with thermodynamics and statistical physics.Individual chapters should be valuable to more select readers.Chapters 1-2,which give an overview of entropy,the sec- ond law,early challenges,and classical arguments for second law inviolability, should interest historians and philosophers of science.Chapter 3,which devel- ops quantum mechanical formalism,should interest theorists in quantum statisti- cal mechanics,decoherence,and entanglement.Chapters 4-9 unpack individual, experimentally-testable challenges and can be profitably read by researchers in the various subfields in which they arise,e.g.,solid state,plasma,superconductivity, biochemistry.The final chapter explores two topics at the forefront of second law research:thermosynthetic life and physical eschatology.The former is a proposed third branch of life-beyond the traditional two(chemosynthetic and photosyn- thetic)-and is relevant to evolutionary and extremophile biology,biochemistry, and origin-of-life studies.The latter topic explores the fate of life in the cosmos in light of the second law and its possible violation.Roughly 80%of this volume covers research currently in the literature,rearranged and interpreted;the remain- ing 20%represents new,unpublished work.Chapter 3 was written exclusively by Capek (with editing by d.p.s.),Chapters 4-10 exclusively by Sheehan,Chapter 1 primarily by Sheehan,and Chapter 2 jointly.As much as possible,each chapter is self-contained and understandable without significant reference to other chapters. Whenever possible,the mathematical notation is identical to that employed in the original research. It is likely that many of the challenges in this book will fall short of their marks, but such is the nature of exploratory research,particularly when the quarry is as formidable as the second law.It has 180 years of historical inertia behind it and the adamantine support of the scientific community.It has been confirmed by countless experiments and has survived scores of challenges unscathed.Arguably, it is the best tested,most central and profound physical principle crosscutting the sciences,engineering,and humanities.For good reasons,its absolute status is unquestioned. However,as the second law itself teaches:Things change. Daniel P.Sheehan San Diego,California August 4,2004xiv Challenges to the Second Law no experimental violation has been claimed and confirmed. In this volume we will attempt to remain clear on this point; that is, while the second law might be potentially violable, it has not been violated in practice. This being the case, it is our position that the second law should be considered absolute unless experiment demonstrates otherwise. It is also our position, however, given the strong evidence for its potential violability, that inquiry into its status should not be stifled by certain unscientific attitudes and practices that have operated thus far. This volume should be of interest to researchers in any field to which the sec￾ond law pertains, especially to physicists, chemists and engineers involved with thermodynamics and statistical physics. Individual chapters should be valuable to more select readers. Chapters 1-2, which give an overview of entropy, the sec￾ond law, early challenges, and classical arguments for second law inviolability, should interest historians and philosophers of science. Chapter 3, which devel￾ops quantum mechanical formalism, should interest theorists in quantum statisti￾cal mechanics, decoherence, and entanglement. Chapters 4-9 unpack individual, experimentally-testable challenges and can be profitably read by researchers in the various subfields in which they arise, e.g., solid state, plasma, superconductivity, biochemistry. The final chapter explores two topics at the forefront of second law research: thermosynthetic life and physical eschatology. The former is a proposed third branch of life — beyond the traditional two (chemosynthetic and photosyn￾thetic) — and is relevant to evolutionary and extremophile biology, biochemistry, and origin-of-life studies. The latter topic explores the fate of life in the cosmos in light of the second law and its possible violation. Roughly 80% of this volume covers research currently in the literature, rearranged and interpreted; the remain￾ing 20% represents new, unpublished work. Chapter 3 was written exclusively by ˇ primarily by Sheehan, and Chapter 2 jointly. As much as possible, each chapter is self-contained and understandable without significant reference to other chapters. Whenever possible, the mathematical notation is identical to that employed in the original research. It is likely that many of the challenges in this book will fall short of their marks, but such is the nature of exploratory research, particularly when the quarry is as formidable as the second law. It has 180 years of historical inertia behind it and the adamantine support of the scientific community. It has been confirmed by countless experiments and has survived scores of challenges unscathed. Arguably, it is the best tested, most central and profound physical principle crosscutting the sciences, engineering, and humanities. For good reasons, its absolute status is unquestioned. However, as the second law itself teaches: Things change. Daniel P. Sheehan San Diego, California August 4, 2004 C´apek (with editing by d.p.s.), Chapters 4-10 exclusively by Sheehan, Chapter 1