Based on the idea of that particle decay represents nothing but a kind of
thermodynamic process due to its spontaneity, we here explore a new kind of
heat engine: particle Carnot engine (PCE), which satisfies Carnot’s theorem.
The result shows that any single particle carries its quantized intrinsic
entropy, and the total entropy never decreases for any decay process. Particle
thermodynamic laws analogous to the usual ones are proposed, among which the
momentum conservation principle is specially introduced that will determine the
irreversibility of particle decay. Moreover, we also develop the operational
definitions of particle state functions, including Boltzmann relationship,
which can be used to discuss the thermodynamic properties of particle objects.
Thus, our study can provide a new theoretical framework to investigate particle
physics.
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