Ramírez-Hernández A, Larralde H, Leyvraz F
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Mar 28;100(12):120601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.120601. Epub 2008 Mar 25.
We show that systems with negative specific heat can violate the zeroth law of thermodynamics. By both numerical simulations and by using exact expressions for free energy and microcanonical entropy, it is shown that if two systems with the same intensive parameters but with negative specific heat are thermally coupled, they undergo a process in which the total entropy increases irreversibly. The final equilibrium is such that two phases appear; that is, the subsystems have different magnetizations and internal energies at temperatures which are equal in both systems, but that can be different from the initial temperature.
