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Does the temperature of a body depend on the frame of reference?

AccidentalFourierTransform
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Nagraj
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  • To answer this question, one first needs a precise formulation of the "zero-law of thermodynamics" in special relativity, see https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06396 (the transformation of temperature is also discussed). – Quillo Oct 05 '22 at 15:08

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Temperature can be thought of as the vibration or oscillation of individual particles. More the vibration, more the temperature. The frames velocity is just the velocity of its mean position, as the vibration is independent of the frame velocity, so is the temperature.

Shankara Narayana
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  • Does this mean a vibrating body will have a higher temperature compared to the same body at rest? – Nagraj May 16 '16 at 15:56
  • You are talking about a visible scale of vibration. You must have read about Degree's of freedom. each degree of freedom contributes 0.5kT Joules of Vibrational energy, where T is temperature in kelvin and 'k' is the boltzmann constant. A body truly at rest will be at 0k. – Shankara Narayana May 17 '16 at 07:14
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    The monatomic ideal gas model is a clear counterexample of your classification of temperature as vibration/oscillation – daydreamer Oct 16 '20 at 16:32