Salagaram, TrishaChetty, Nithaya2014-02-042014-02-042013-11-21Salagaram, T & Chetty, N 2013, 'Probing the extensive nature of entropy', Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 454, pp. 1-8.1742-6588 (print)1742-6596 (online)10.1088/1742-6596/454/1/012074http://hdl.handle.net/2263/33294We have devised a general numerical scheme applied to a system of independent, distinguishable, non-interacting particles, to demonstrate in a direct manner the extensive nature of statistical entropy. Working within the microcanonical ensemble, our methods enable one to directly monitor the approach to the thermodynamic limit (N ! 1) in a manner that has not been known before. We show that (sN − s∞) ! N− where sN is the entropy per particle for N particles and s∞ is the entropy per particle in the thermodynamic limit. We demonstrate universal behaviour by considering a number of different systems each defined by its unique single-particle spectrum. Various thermodynamic quantities as a function of N may be computed using our methods; in this paper, we focus on the entropy, the chemical potential and the temperature. Our results are applicable to systems of finite size, e.g. nano-particle systems. Furthermore, we demonstrate a new phenomenon, referred to as entropic interference, which manifests as a cancellation of terms in the thermodynamic limit and which results in the additive nature of entropy.en© IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Entropic interferenceStatistical entropyExtensive behaviourEntropyArticle