Inconsistency of the non-standard definition of work

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a recently proposed non-standard definition of work, based on force variation instead of displacement, is thermodynamically inconsistent and produces non-physical results at multiple scales.

Contribution

The paper critically analyzes and refutes a recent non-standard work definition, establishing its thermodynamic inconsistency and physical implausibility.

Findings

The non-standard work definition leads to free energy changes dependent on arbitrary parameters.

It is inconsistent with established thermodynamic principles at microscopic and macroscopic levels.

The proposed definition results in non-physical outcomes incompatible with standard thermodynamics.

Abstract

We show that the recently postulated non-standard definition of work proportional to force variation rather than to displacement [A. Imparato and L. Peliti, cond-mat arXiv:0706.1134v1] is thermodynamically inconsistent at both microscopic and macroscopic scales and leads to non-physical results, including free energy changes that depend on arbitrary parameters.