A Second-Law Taxonomy of Machines

There are four types of machine primitive in the universe.

Every machine corresponds to a canonical physics thermodynamics law.

Law-2

The entropy of an isolated system never decreases.

A Law-2 machine is an irreversible machine that harvests order.

They all share similar properties.

Here are some:

• Internal Combustion Engines

• Solar Panel

• LED

• Transistor

• Wind Turbines

• Photosynthesis

• Aerobic Respiration

• Hurricanes

• Galaxies

• Stars

• Black Holes

All Law-2 machines dissipate gradients irreversibly and harvest order by more efficiently increasing entropy production.

These machines take in entropy (energy with high degrees of freedom), harvest for a single/few degrees of freedom then dump the entropy to serve the Second Law.

Because they are irreversible, they are not representable by reversible set of equations even in principle.

These machines destroy information and create new information; therefore they are not representable by smooth continuous math, and they are not differentiable.

Dissipative Structures are Law-2 machines, and the order they harvest contributes to its sustenance and macroscopic structure.

Ephemeral/Silicon Computers are a special type of Law-2 machine. They intake ephemeral entropy(data from real world) collapse into a yes/no , or transform it via some logical mapping. Here the logic is reversible, but the Second Law only permits its existence because it rides the ontic layer, by taking in stable DC electricity (1 DOF, order) and turning it into heat. There is no computation without dissipation.

Law-1

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.

These machines transform energy from one form to another, ideally without dissipation.

These machines preserve DOF (usually 1) in their operation.

Examples:

• Springs

• Gears

• Flywheels

• Capacitors

• AC voltage transformers

• Optical lenses

• Lithium Battery

• Motor/Generator

• Microphone/Speaker

These machines are reversible and have no preferred time direction.

Because they preserve DOF, they are representable in theory by equations, and continuous math.

Because they do not destroy information, they are representable by continuous math (Hamiltonian, Diffy Q, Linear Algebra)

These machines are incapable of harvesting order, because they require order as their input.

Many frameworks in classical physics represent these machines well, such as Hamiltonian, which works off conservation of energy as an axiom.

Because these machines can be run in reverse, many Law-1 machines can do 1 transformation and the reverse in one machine. For example, motors can be generators, and speakers can be made to be mics.

These machines are never 100% efficient, because all flux requires dissipation, under the Second Law.

Law 0

If two systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Law-0 machines exist because the 0th law guarantees that equilibrium is transitive.

Examples:

• Thermometers

• Barometers

• Water in biology

• Electrical conductors

• Thermal conductors

These machines equilibrate, measure or balance a gradient.

Their sole purpose is to ensure one part of a system is coupled to another through some domain.

Water in biology is a Law-0 machines across many domains, thermal, ionic, chemical, and mechanical.

Water ensures every part of an organism is coupled to the other thermally, ionically, and chemically.

Law ∅

Law ∅ (Law Null) machines work by trying to prevent coupling/dissipation.

They are geometry that guides flux by putting constraints on its motion.

Examples:

Electrical Insulators

Thermal Insulators

Engine Geometry

Sweaters

Chairs(Decouple from gravity)

Shoe grip (Increases cost of mechanical to heat / dynamic friction channel, prefer static friction / mechanical coupling)