On geometry of phenomenological thermodynamics

Abstract

We present the formalism of phenomenological thermodynamics in terms of the even-dimensional symplectic geometry, and argue that it catches its geometric essence in a more profound and clearer way than the popular odd-dimensional contact structure description. Among the advantages are a number of conceptual clarifications: the geometric role of internal energy (not made as an independent variable), the lattice of potentials, and the gauge interpretation of the theory.