Dynamics of conversion of supercurrents into normal currents, and vice versa

The generation and destruction of the supercurrent in a superconductor (S) between two resistive normal (N) current leads connected to a current source is computed from the source equation for the supercurrent density. This equation relates the gradient of the pair potential's phase to electron and hole wavepackets that create and destroy Cooper pairs in the N/S interfaces. Total Andreev reflection and supercurrent transmission of electrons and holes are coupled together by the phase rigidity of the non-bosonic Cooper-pair condensate. The calculations are illustrated by snapshots from a computer film.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted by Phys. Rev.

How energy conversion drives economic growth far from the equilibrium of neoclassical economics

Energy conversion in the machines and information processors of the capital stock drives the growth of modern economies. This is exemplified for Germany, Japan, and the USA during the second half of the 20th century: econometric analyses reveal that the output elasticity, i.e. the economic weight, of energy is much larger than energyʼs share in total factor cost, while for labor just the opposite is true. This is at variance with mainstream economic theory according to which an economy should operate in the neoclassical equilibrium, where output elasticities equal factor cost shares. The standard derivation of the neoclassical equilibrium from the maximization of profit or of time-integrated utility disregards technological constraints. We show that the inclusion of these constraints in our nonlinear-optimization calculus results in equilibrium conditions, where generalized shadow prices destroy the equality of output elasticities and cost shares. Consequently, at the prices of capital, labor, and energy we have known so far, industrial economies have evolved far from the neoclassical equilibrium. This is illustrated by the example of the German industrial sector evolving on the mountain of factor costs before and during the first and the second oil price explosion. It indicates the influence of the 'virtually binding' technological constraints on entrepreneurial decisions, and the existence of 'soft constraints' as well. Implications for employment and future economic growth are discussed

The Impact of Entropy Production and Emission Mitigation on Economic Growth

Entropy production in industrial economies involves heat currents, driven by gradients of temperature, and particle currents, driven by specific external forces and gradients of temperature and chemical potentials. Pollution functions are constructed for the associated emissions. They reduce the output elasticities of the production factors capital, labor, and energy in the growth equation of the capital-labor-energy-creativity model, when the emissions approach their critical limits. These are drawn by, e.g., health hazards or threats to ecological and climate stability. By definition, the limits oblige the economic actors to dedicate shares of the available production factors to emission mitigation, or to adjustments to the emission-induced changes in the biosphere. Since these shares are missing for the production of the quantity of goods and services that would be available to consumers and investors without emission mitigation, the “conventional” output of the economy shrinks. The resulting losses of conventional output are estimated for two classes of scenarios: (1) energy conservation; and (2) nuclear exit and subsidies to photovoltaics. The data of the scenarios refer to Germany in the 1980s and after 11 March 2011. For the energy-conservation scenarios, a method of computing the reduction of output elasticities by emission abatement is proposed

The Second Law of Economics: Energy, Entropy, and the Origins of Wealth /

Nothing happens in the world without energy conversion and entropy production.  These fundamental natural laws are familiar to most of us when applied to the evolution of stars, biological processes, or the working of an internal combustion engine, but what about industrial economies and wealth production, or their constant companion, pollution?  Does economics conform to the First and the Second  Law of Thermodynamics?  In this important book, Reiner Kümmel takes us on a fascinating tour of these laws and their influence on natural, technological, and social evolution.  Analyzing economic growth in Germany, Japan, and the United States in light of technological constraints on capital, labor, and energy, Professor Kümmel upends conventional economic wisdom by showing that the  productive power of energy far outweighs its small share of costs, while for labor just the opposite is true.  Wealth creation by energy conversion is accompanied and limited by polluting emissions that are coupled to entropy production.   These facts constitute the Second Law of Economics. They take on unprecedented  importance in a world that is facing peak oil, debt-driven economic turmoil, and threats from pollution and climate change.  They complement the First Law of Economics: Wealth is allocated on markets, and the legal framework determines the outcome.  By applying the First and Second Law we understand the true origins of wealth production, the issues that imperil the goal of sustainable development, and the technological options that are compatible both with this goal and with natural laws.  The critical role of energy  and entropy in the productive sectors of the economy must be realized if we are to create a road map that avoids a Dark Age of shrinking natural resources, environmental degradation, and increasing social tensions

Verantworteter Umgang mit der Natur? - Philosophische Hintergründe und gesellschaftliche Komplexität -

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