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Red_Icnivad t1_j23ijz0 wrote

Reply to comment by krista in Possible Absolute Zero Breakthroughs? by Jlobee_stocktrdr

Wild. "A system with a truly negative temperature on the Kelvin scale is hotter than any system with a positive temperature. If a negative-temperature system and a positive-temperature system come in contact, heat will flow from the negative- to the positive-temperature system."

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Shadow_Road t1_j23s52d wrote

Kind of sounds like a negative integer overflow. Simulation theory confirmed lol

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Jlobee_stocktrdr OP t1_j23rwgr wrote

Perhaps I’m having a misunderstanding but perhaps you could clarify? Is my supposition that the feasibility of achieving 0 IS actually possible?As you stated if the two systems were ever to be in contact heat would flow from negative to the positive system thereby reverting to just 1 Positive?

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Red_Icnivad t1_j247vxd wrote

From my understanding, 0 is impossible to achieve, just like the speed of light.

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tinySparkOf_Chaos t1_j24mg1g wrote

Temperature, It seems like a simple concept gets very complicated at very low temperatures.

For example as the gas molecules are no longer colliding quickly at low temperatures, it's possible to get systems of gases where they have one rotational temperature a different vibrational temperature and a third translational temperature.

Molecular beams you can even have multiple translational temperatures. One temperature in the direction the beam is traveling and a separate temperature going perpendicular to the beam.

Essentially temperature as a simple concept just breaks down and stops working as you get close to zero.

So you have different definitions of temperature that are mathematically based.

Some excited state physics ends up having technically a "negative temperature" when you apply those math definitions. These various excited states systems are impossible to reach by heating up the material. (Like the active part of a laser). You apply the same math used to systems close to zero to these other objects, they spit out negative numbers. But it's really not temperature in those systems anymore, at least not in the way that a normal person talks about temperature.

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