APPROACH TO EQUILIBRIUM OF COUPLED, HARMONICALLY BOUND OSCILLATOR SYSTEMS

A finite segment of an infinite, harmonically bound, weakly coupled oscillator chain evolves to a final state of equilibrium as a consequence of the statistical influence of the heat bath-the rest of the chain-on the system, via the equations of motion. Information theory eliminates the need for coarse graining or ergodicity. The entropy, defined in terms of the reduced Liouville function of the system variables, is shown to evolve to the equilibrium value, and equipartition follows directly. © 1969 The American Physical Society.