Comment on: Thermostatistics of Overdamped Motion of Interacting Particles [arXiv:1008.1421]

TL;DR

This paper refutes a recent claim that particles in a parabolic trap follow Tsallis statistics at zero temperature, showing instead that their distribution is determined by force balance and can be exactly solved.

Contribution

The authors provide an exact solution to the model, demonstrating that the particle distribution at T=0 is not related to Tsallis entropy, countering previous simulation-based claims.

Findings

Exact solution shows distribution is due to force balance

Distribution at T=0 is not related to Tsallis statistics

Model can be solved analytically

Abstract

In a recent paper, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 260601 (2010) [arXiv:1008.1421], Andrade et al., argued that classical particles confined in a parabolic trap at T=0 distribute themselves in accordance with the Tsallis statistics. To prove their point the authors performed molecular dynamics simulations. Here we show that the model of Andrade et al. can be solved exactly. The distribution of particles at T=0 has nothing to do with the Tsallis entropy and is determined simply by the force balance.