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arXiv:1401.7224cond-mat.stat-mech

Is ergodicity a reasonable hypothesis?

Bernard Gaveau, Lawrence S. Schulman

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Abstract

In the physics literature "ergodicity" is taken to mean that a system, including a macroscopic one, visits all microscopic states in a relatively short time. We show that this is an impossibility even if that time is billions of years. We also suggest that this feature does not contradict most physical considerations since those considerations deal with correlations of only a few particles.

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cond-mat.stat-mechStatistical Mechanics physics.chem-phChemical Physics physics.hist-phHistory and Philosophy of Physics

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