Nonlinear dynamics determines the thermodynamic instability of condensed matter in vacuo

TL;DR

This paper explores how nonlinear dynamics, through localized excitations like breathers and solitons, fundamentally influence the thermodynamic instability of condensed matter in a vacuum, especially at low temperatures.

Contribution

It establishes a link between nonlinear dynamical phenomena and thermodynamic instability in condensed matter, highlighting the role of localized excitations.

Findings

Localized excitations must exist at low temperatures due to thermodynamic instability.

Nonlinear phenomena are essential for understanding condensed matter thermodynamics.

Condensed matter's instability in vacuum is driven by energy concentration in nonlinear modes.

Abstract

Condensed matter is thermodynamically unstable in a vacuum. That is what thermodynamics tells us through the relation showing that condensed matter at temperatures above absolute zero always has non-zero vapour pressure. This instability implies that at low temperatures energy must not be distributed equally among atoms in the crystal lattice but must be concentrated. In dynamical systems such concentrations of energy in localized excitations are well known in the form of discrete breathers, solitons, and related nonlinear phenomena. It follows that to satisfy thermodynamics such localized excitations must exist in systems of condensed matter at arbitrarily low temperature and as such the nonlinear dynamics of condensed matter is crucial for its thermodynamics.