Book Description

Highlights of this book were selected for inclusion in the program of the 2005, Paris, "Albert Einstein Century International Conference." The Conference Proceedings was published by the American Institute of Physics. ------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1905, Albert Einstein's theory of Brownian motion made a monumental contribution to thermodynamics. Specifically, the theory accounted for the rate of change of the particle momentum associated with thermal motion to study the diffusion of suspended particles in liquids. In this book, the author shows for the first time that Einstein's procedure is justified, not only for this particular problem, but for thermodynamic systems generally, including those containing surfaces, membranes, junctions phase boundaries and other interfaces The resulting, new thermodynamic theory has unified the theory of semiconductor diodes and solar cells. Theoretical results have accurately corroborated experimental data reported by more than 25 authors over a period exceeding a quarter century. The new general theory has revealed that to simultaneously satisfy the first and second laws of thermodynamics, electric charges have to reside at most interfaces. This novel result is the first thermodynamic confirmation of Newton's speculation that capillarity and other interfacial phenomena involve electric forces. Interfacial electrification has explained numerous phenomena of interdisciplinary interest such as: surface tension, capillarity, drop coalescence, adhesion of light particles to surfaces, the separation of charges upon phase change, fog and cloud suspension, the origin of atmospheric electricity, drop coalescence, and the generation of static electricity, to mention a few examples. The book provides ideas and results that will stimulate theoretical and applied research in a variety of disciplines. The topic coverage is balanced and complete for both researchers, who will find case studies with fundamental importance, and students, who will be introduced to the generalization of Einstein's theory of Brownian motion.