Phase Transitions as Emergent Geometric Phenomena: A Deterministic Entropy Evolution Law

TL;DR

This paper introduces a geometric approach to thermodynamics where phase transitions are described by curvature invariants of the energy manifold, providing a deterministic law for entropy evolution that applies broadly to complex systems.

Contribution

It presents a novel geometric formulation of thermodynamics deriving entropy and phase transitions from intrinsic phase space geometry without ensembles.

Findings

Geometric transformations encode criticality in phase transitions.

The framework applies to long-range interactions and ensemble-inequivalence.

Validated on 1D XY and 2D φ^4 models.

Abstract

We show that thermodynamics can be formulated naturally from the intrinsic geometry of phase space alone-without postulating an ensemble, which instead emerges from the geometric structure itself. Within this formulation, phase transitions are encoded in the geometry of constant-energy manifold: entropy and its derivatives follow from a deterministic equation whose source is built from curvature invariants. As energy increases, geometric transformations in energy-manifold structure drive thermodynamic responses and characterize criticality. We validate this framework through explicit analysis of paradigmatic systems-the 1D XY mean-field model and 2D $\phi^4$ theory-showing that geometric transformations in energy-manifold structure characterize criticality quantitatively. The framework applies universally to long-range interacting systems and in ensemble-inequivalence regimes.