Experimental confirmation of the negentropic character of the diffraction polarization of diffuse radiation

Abstract

In the course of analyzing the axiomatic principles on which statistical physics is based, the assumption of the limited correctness of the postulate that all allowable microstates of a closed system are equally probable was checked. This article reports the results of a study of a quasi-equivalent system within which isotropic radiation interacts with a phase diffraction grating. A simulated computer model of such interaction showed that anisotropic polarization must arise in the diffracted radiation, which reduces the Boltzmann entropy of the entire system and allows an external observer to obtain information on the grating's surface topology. This prediction was confirmed when it was experimentally checked directly on actual apparatus.