Generalized entropies from first principles

A derivation of power law canonical distributions from first principle statistical mechanics, including the exponential distribution as a particular case is presented. It is shown that these distributions arise naturally, and that the heat capacity of the heat bath is the condition that determines its type. As a consequence, a physical interpretation for the parameter q of the generalized entropy is given.     

Upper entropy axioms and lower entropy axioms

The paper suggests the concepts of an upper entropy and a lower entropy. We propose a new axiomatic definition, namely, upper entropy axioms, inspired by axioms of metric spaces, and also formulate lower entropy axioms. We also develop weak upper entropy axioms and weak lower entropy axioms. Their conditions are weaker than those of Shannon–Khinchin axioms and Tsallis axioms, while these conditions are stronger than those of the axiomatics based on the first three Shannon–Khinchin axioms. The subadditivity and strong subadditivity of entropy are obtained in the new axiomatics. Tsallis statistics is a special case of satisfying our axioms. Moreover, different forms of information measures, such as Shannon entropy, Daroczy entropy, Tsallis entropy and other entropies, can be unified under the same axiomatics.     

Uncertainty relations expressed by Shannon-like entropies

Besides the well-known Shannon entropy, there is a set of Shannon-like entropies which have applications in statistical and quantum physics. These entropies are functions of certain parameters and converge toward Shannon entropy when these parameters approach the value 1. We describe briefly the most important Shannon-like entropies and present their graphical representations. Their graphs look almost identical, though by superimposing them it appears that they are distinct and characteristic of each Shannon-like entropy. We try to formulate the alternative entropic uncertainty relations by means of the Shannon-like entropies and show that all of them equally well express the uncertainty principle of quantum physics.     

Modulational instability of electron-acoustic waves in a plasma with a q-nonextensive electron velocity distribution

The amplitude modulation of electron-acoustic waves (EAWs) propagating in space plasmas whose constituents are inertial cold electrons, hot nonextensive q-distributed electrons, and stationary ions is presented theoretically. The nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) which governs the modulational instability of the EAWs is obtained using reductive perturbation method (RPM). The presence of the hot nonextensive q-distributed electrons is shown to influence the modulational instability of the waves. Further, the nondimensional parameter α=ne0/nc0, which is the equilibrium density ratio of the hot to cold electron component, is shown to play a vital role in the formation of both bright and dark solitons.     

First and second order non-equilibrium phase transition and evidence for non-extensive Tsallis statistics in Earth’s magnetosphere

In this paper strong evidence is provided for significant far from equilibrium phase transition processes in the Earth’s magnetosphere as revealed by the nonlinear analysis of in situ observations. These results constitute the solid base for the solution of the durable controversy about the chaotic or non-chaotic character of the magnetospheric dynamics. During the last two decades the concept of low dimensional chaos was supported by theoretical and experimental methods by our group in Thrace and others scientists, as an explicative paradigm of the magnetospheric dynamics including substorm processes. In parallel, the concept of self-organized criticality (SOC) and space-time intermittency was introduced as new and opposing to low dimensional chaos concepts for modeling the magnetospheric dynamics. Novel results concerning the nonlinear analysis of in situ space plasma data (magnetic-electric field, energetic particles and bulk plasma flow time series) obtained by the Geotail spacecraft presented in this paper for the first time reveal the following: (a) Coexistence of SOC and chaos states in the magnetospheric system and global phase transition from one state to the other during substorms. (b) Strong intermittent turbulent character of the magnetospheric system at the SOC or the low dimensional chaos states. (c) Clear indications for non-extensivity and q-Gaussian statistics during periods of low dimensional and chaotic dynamics of the magnetosphere. (d) Low dimensional and nonlinear space plasma dynamics in the day side magnetopause and bow shock dynamics. The dual character of the magnetospheric dynamics including low dimensional chaotic (coherent) and high dimensional turbulent states, as supported in this paper, is in agreement and verifies previous theoretical and experimental studies.     

Nonadditive Tsallis entropy applied to the Earth’s climate

The concepts of nonextensive statistics, which has been applied in the study of complex systems, are used to analyze past records of the Earth’s climate. The fluctuations within the record of deuterium content (hence temperature) in the last glacial period appear to follow a q-Gaussian distribution. Analyses of the time-dependent nonadditive entropy indicate transitions between different complexity levels in the data prior to the abrupt change in the system dynamics at the end of the last glaciation. Different fluctuation regimens are evidenced through wavelets analysis. It is also suggested that time-dependent entropy analysis could be useful for indicating the approach to a critical transition of the Earth’s climate for which theoretical models are in many cases not available.     

The Tsallis statistical distribution in a completely open system

We derive the statistical distributions, partition functions and thermodynamic formulas for a completely open system on the basis of Tsallis entropy. These results are derived for two types of constraints, using the method of maximum entropy.     

Universality in solar flare, magnetic storm and earthquake dynamics using Tsallis statistical mechanics

The universal character of the dynamics of various extreme phenomena is an outstanding scientific challenge. We show that X-ray flux and D_st time series during powerful solar flares and intense magnetic storms, respectively, obey a nonextensive energy distribution function for earthquake dynamics with similar values for the Tsallis entropic index q. Thus, evidence for universality in solar flares, magnetic storms and earthquakes arise naturally in the framework of Tsallis statistical mechanics. The observed similarity suggests a common approach to the interpretation of these diverse phenomena in terms of driving physical mechanisms that have the same character.     

Scaled Bregman divergences in a Tsallis scenario

There exist two different versions of the Kullback-Leibler divergence (K-Ld) in Tsallis statistics, namely the usual generalized K-Ld and the generalized Bregman K-Ld. Problems have been encountered in trying to reconcile them. A condition for consistency between these two generalized K-Ld forms is derived by recourse to the additive duality of Tsallis statistics. It is also shown that the usual generalized K-Ld subjected to this additive duality, known as the dual generalized K-Ld, is a scaled Bregman divergence. This leads to an interesting conclusion: the dual generalized mutual information is a scaled Bregman information. The utility and implications of these results are discussed.