Entropy and the Forbes Billionaires

Net Worth is not the only property possessed by the billionaire system
1. Summary
In addition to the properties called individual net worth, or combined net worth, or average net worth, the billionaires, as a group, also possess another interesting property called entropy.

Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$4,000.0 $3,500.0 $3,000.0 $2,500.0 $2,000.0 $1,500.0 $1,000.0

(571, $2444.7B) The Americas

y = 4.22x 17.9 r2 = 0.9998

(442, $1872.3B) USA

$500.0
$0.0 0 100

(129, $572.3B) Latin America

200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 1: A nearly PERFECT linear relation between the data for Latin America (129 billionaires), USA (442 billionaires) and all of the Americas (571 billionaires). Two additional data points represent new groupings of billionaires from Latin American countries, see Ref.[1] or click here.

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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$3,000.0

Americas
$2,500.0

$2,000.0

USA

$1,500.0

Europe Latin America China

$1,000.0

$500.0

$0.0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 2: Three points have been added to the data set here: the data for Europe (x = 366), Latin America (x = 85) and China (x = 122). China was added since the billionaire count is close to all the Americas without USA (x = 129). The same best-fit line is used with the three points added to the same graph. The data points for Europe and Latin America fall virtually on the same line. Only China shows a significant vertical deviation from the best-fit line, indicating a lower combined net worth, or what is effectively the same as too few billionaires in China (see discussion in Ref. [22]). What is entropy and how and why it arises is discussed here using the examples of countries with just a few billionaires: Venezuela (with 3 billionaires), New Zealand (3), Argentina (5) and Kazakhstan (5). The discussion here follows exactly the description of the meaning of entropy given by Max Planck when he developed quantum physics in a December 1900 paper. Following Planck, the entropy of any complex
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system can be defined as being proportional to the number of ways in which the system can exist, while exhibiting the same macro properties. The higher the number of ways, or microstates, the higher its entropy. A detailed consideration of the microstates of the billionaire system, using the examples of Venezuela, Argentina and Kazakhstan, reveals another important and fundamental property of the system the fixed rate of increase of the net worth as more and more billionaires are added to the system.

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Table of Contents
No.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Topic
Summary Introduction Entropy and the Venezuelan Billionaires The Argentine billionaires The Kazakhstan billionaires Brief Discussion Conclusions Giants of Entropy and Statistical Physics Reference list Related articles

Page No.
1 4 7 11 13 14 22 25 27 32

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2. Introduction
In this article we will talk about an interesting property, or characteristic, of all complex systems, called the entropy. What is entropy? This enigmatic property of a system, see discussion by Kragh in Ref. [2], is actually very easily explained using the Forbes billionaires data. The idea of entropy was first conceived by Rudolf Clausius in the second half of the 19th century, see Refs. [3-8], during the course of his theoretical speculations on the flow of heat in an engine, such as the engines that we find in our modern cars, trains, planes, rockets, spacecrafts, etc. Indeed, it is such theoretical speculations, coupled with careful and reliable empirical observations that led to the technological advances that have made it possible for us to enjoy many material comforts that define our life in the 21st century. Clausius noted that if a system receives a small amount of heat dQ (or Q), at a temperature T, it also exhibits another property which changes by a small amount dS (or S), Ref. [7]. Finally, Clausius chose the name entropy for this property, in 1865, which is defined by the famous equation given below. dS = dQ/T or S = Q/T ..(1)

Many great philosophical discussions of the late 19th century, which were rooted in our scientific understanding of the material universe, had their foundations in this rather strange definition of the property of a system. Planck reversed the Clausius argument, when he developed quantum physics in December 1900, see Refs. [9-11]. He took the idea of entropy, see Refs. [12-21], as a given and used the ideas of heat dQ (or energy dU) and the entropy dS to define the temperature of a system as T = dQ/dS = dU/dS, the rate of change of energy of the system as its entropy increases. Einstein applied the same ideas to radiation in the form of light, Refs. [18-21], in his
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famous 1905 paper to develop the idea of particles of light (now called photons) each having a fixed energy, . To develop this (then revolutionary) idea, Einstein starts out by discussing the idea of the entropy of a certain volume of radiation in the form of light, its energy, and also its temperature. The temperature of a volume of light radiation, says Einstein, is given by the same derivatives mentioned by Planck in his 1900 paper. Before taking his step, of re-defining the meaning of the temperature T of a system, Planck explains the meaning of entropy using the following example of N = 10 particles. He lists them in with numbers 1 to 10 in the top row of the table. These particles (he calls them oscillators and also resonators), taken together, have P = 100 units of some elementary measure of energy, called . This is listed in the bottom row.

Table 1: Plancks example from December 1900 paper to illustrate the meaning of entropy
Particle No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Energy units, 7 38 11 0 9 2 20 4 4 Particles N = 10 and number of energy units P = 100 where UN = NU = P. 10 5

The total energy of the N particles can be written as UN = NU where U is the average energy. It can also be thought of differently, at least in the minds eye, and written as the product P. Thus, UN = NU = P. This transformation of the product NU to the product P is the beginning of quantum physics. Planck points out that the listing in the bottom row is just one of many many different ways in which the system of N = 10 particles can have the same total P = 100 energy units. Each of such listings, Planck says, is exactly what Boltzmann had referred to earlier as the complexions of a system, in a paper the latter wrote in 1877. In that 1877 paper, Boltzmann describes how to distribute 7 units of energy between 7 gas molecules, see detailed discussion of Boltzmanns example by Gearhart [11] and the present author [16]. After providing this example, Planck defines entropy as being
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proportional to the number of ways which can be deduced from the elementary theory of permutations and combinations. Thus, SN = k ln + S0 where, giving, = (N + P 1)! /(N 1)! P! (N +P)N+P /NN PP SN = k [ (N + P) ln (N + P) N ln N P ln P ] ..(2) ..(3) ..(4)

Entropy: Some Definitions

Clausius (1865) dS = dQ/T Boltzmann (1877) defined entropy to be proportional to the logarithm of the number of microstates an ideal gas could occupy. Erwin Schrdinger Determine the distribution of a given amount of energy E over N identical systems. Gibbs: The interpretation of entropy in statistical mechanics is a measure of uncertainty, or mixedupness , which remains about a system after its observable macroscopic properties, such as temperature, pressure and volume, have been taken into account. when von Neumann asked him how he was getting on with his information theory, Shannon replied, Ref. [7]: The theory was in excellent shape, except that he needed a good name for missing information. Why dont you call it entropy, von Neumann suggested. In the first place, a mathematical development very much like yours already exists in Boltzmanns statistical mechanics, and in the second place, no one understands entropy very well, so in any discussion you will be in a position of advantage.

Equation 2 for , the number of ways, can be found in Boltzmanns 1877 paper. In his honor, the proportionality constant k is now called the Boltzmann constant. The symbol kB is also used for the same reason. The nonzero S0 must be included since we really do not know the entropy even in the theoretical limit of = 1 (see box, and mixedupness, mentioned by Gibbs).

Also, logarithms are used here since we must deal with factorials of the integers N and P which are both very large, especially when we consider a complex system such as those being discussed by Planck and Boltzmann.

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Exactly the same considerations apply to the system of billionaires of interest to us. Just like the oscillators or resonators of Planck, or the gas molecules of Boltzmann, possess both the properties of energy and entropy, billionaires also possess the property called entropy in addition to the properties called individual net worth Uk (the subscript k means the kth billionaire in a list), combined net worth UN (subscript N denotes the total number of members in the list) and average net worth U = UN/N. The many different ways in which the billionaire system can exist is indeed this enigmatic property called entropy that has fascinated scientists and philosophers ever since Clausius made the following profound statements (of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, which together led Planck to T = dU/dS or 1/T = dS/dU). Die energie der welt ist constant. (The energy of the universe is a constant.) Die entropie der welt strebt einem maximum zu. (The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum.)

3. Entropy and the Venezuelan Billionaires

In the most recent billionaires list for 2013, Forbes found three billionaires in Venezuela and five in Argentina. The newly elected Pope, Pope Francis, as we all know, hails from Argentina. And, today, as I begin this, is Good Friday 2013. The combined net worth, UN, of the three billionaires of Venezuela, with individual net worths of $4.4 B, $4B and $1.4B, is $9.8B, where B stands for billion. The combined net worth of the five billionaires of Argentina ($5.5B, $1.8B, $1.5B, $1.2B, and $1.1B) is $11.1B. We can calculate the average net worth of the Venezuelan and Argentine billionaires by dividing by N. Thus, U = UN/N = $2.22B for Argentina and U = $3.27B for Venezuela. But, is this the whole story?
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This brings us to the idea of entropy. This has been discussed in the recent articles on billionaires, see Refs. [22-26], but let us reconsider it again here. Why should we divide these billionaires into the groups, by their country of citizenship? In the current global economy, where the wealth of a billionaire is derived from global sources, does the country of citizenship really matter? Billionaires have also divided into groups by the industries from which their wealth is derived, see Refs. [27-32]. In another recent article discussing the significance of the average net worth of billionaires, Ref. [24], it was shown that if we consider the top 35 billionaires, their combined worth just exceeds the $1 trillion mark. Fourteen countries appear in this group, with USA leading the list with 16 billionaires, followed by Hong Kong and Germany with 3 each, Mexico and France with 2 each, and Spain, Sweden, India, Italy, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and Chile, with one billionaire each. This is a very diverse group of countries and suggests that we must look beyond narrow geographical boundaries to learn more about wealth creation and how billionaires are produced and how their net worth grows and changes with time. The country-by-country grouping, and the averaging, as described, just limits our perception and understanding of this problem. The three Venezuelan billionaires hold the ranks 286 (Gustavo Cisnero & family), 329 (Lorenzo Mendoza & family), and 1031 (Juan Carlos Escotet) in the Forbes list and are listed below. Theoretically speaking, there are a total of six ways (or six complexions) in which these three can be grouped together, if we pretend that their ranks (and, therefore, their wealth) can be interchanged freely. Gustavo, Lorenzo, and Juan can each take turns being the highest ranked billionaire, and so on for the lower ranks. The combined net worth, as far as the country as whole is concerned (or for someone like me, who is interested in analyzing the data for different countries), will still be the same $9.8 billion but the amounts held by each would be different from the currently observed macrostate, listed as
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complexion number one. The five microstates corresponding to the complexions 2 to 6 are not being observed.

Table 2: Six complexions of the Venezuelan system

Six different complexions all leading to the same macrostate 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gustavo 4.4 4.4 4 1.4 4 1.4 Lorenzo 4 1.4 4.4 4.4 1.4 4 Juan 1.4 4 1.4 4 4.4 4.4 Combined, UN 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8 Instead of lumping all of them together as a group, nothing stops us from considering them in groups of two each (there are three possibilities, if we avoid the repeats) the groups of one, like we do in the ranking of the individuals, and all taken together.

Table 3: Groupings with the Venezuelan billionaires

Forbes Rank Groups List no. here Net worth, Uk 286 329 1031 Groups 1 of 3 1 2 3 4.4 4 1.4 Groups 2 of 3 1,2 1,3 2,3 8.4 5.8 5.4 Group All 3 1,2,3 9.8

The many different ways of grouping the same system of billionaires as discussed here is a measure of its entropy. Entropy can be defined as being proportional to the number of different ways in which a system can exist, or the number of permutations. As N increases the number of ways increases dramatically since, according to the theory of permutations and combinations that we learn in our elementary statistics courses (click here), factorials of various large integers are involved. The number of permutations of n things equals n! where 3! = 3x 2 x 1 = 6 and 5! = 5 x 4 x 3x 2 x 1 = 120, and so on. The number of permutations of n things taken r at a time is nPr = n!/(n r)! and the number of combinations of n things taken r at a time is nCr = n!/(n r)! r! The order in which members in the
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group appear counts in permutations. Order does not matter in combinations. Hence nCr is less than nPr (by the factor r!). We have considered here the billionaires 1, 2, 3 separately, and then the groups of two (1, 2), (1,3), (2, 1), (2, 3) of which we strike out (2,1) as being the same as (1,2) since we are only interested in their combined net worth. Here the order does not count since the sum of the net worths does not depend on the order. Finally, we have the group (1,2,3), the most commonly understood group where all the members of a single country are taken together. Thus, instead of a single point (3, 9.8) on the x-y graph of number of billionaires versus net worth y, we now have many more points. This is illustrated in Figure 3.

Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$12.00 $10.00 $8.00 $6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $0.00 0 1 2 3 4

The Venezuelan groupings data fall on two essentially parallel lines with slopes h = 4.2 (upper group) and h = 4.2 (lower group)

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 3: The different microstates of the Venezuelan billionaire system. In 2013, we have one single Venezuelan macrostate: three billionaires with a combined net worth of $9.8B. The microstates here all have different net
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worths. This is NOT the same as the microstates of a system as discussed by Planck, see Table 1. This is now the entropy of the system manifesting itself in a measurable way, as a spread of many points on the x-y microstates graph, instead of being collapsed into a single point. The measurable property that we can identify is the slope of the x-y graph. The slope is the rate of increase in the combined net worth y as the number of billionaires x increases. The rate is given by the derivative dy/dx, or the ratio of the differential amounts, y/x. The x-y graph, however, reveals a very interesting pattern and a fundamental property of the system of billionaires. As the number of billionaires N (or x) increases their combined net worth UN (or y) increases. We also see an amazing linearity here, unlike the situation with combined net worth of the worlds top 10 billionaires which was discussed in Ref. [24]. (A nonlinear increase in the combined net worth is observed.) The law describing the x-y relation is the simple linear law y = hx + c where the slope h and intercept c can be readily deduced from the (x, y) pairs here. Amazingly, we see exactly the same pattern with the Argentine billionaires as well. Now, we have more microstates possible since we have a system with five billionaires. This is discussed in the next section.

4. The Argentine Billionaires

With N = 5, we have 5! or 120 different ways of distributing the same total wealth of $11.1 B among the 5 Argentine billionaires if their ranks could be changed at will, as discussed earlier with the Venezuelan case. Likewise, grouping the Argentine billionaires in different ways (without changing their individual ranks and wealths, as in Table 3) yields more points on the x-y graph instead of the single point (5, 11.1) when we consider all the Argentine billionaires as a group. This Argentine billionaires grouping is illustrated in Figure 4. Again, we see a remarkably linear relation and a separation of the data along two essentially parallel lines, as with the Venezuelan data.
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Table 4: Microstates of the Argentine billionaire system

Forbes Rank List no. here Net worth, Uk Groups of 2 Net worth, UN Groups of 2 Net worth, UN Groups of 3 Net worth, UN Groups of 3 Net worth, UN 219 1 5.5 1,2 7.3 2,4 3 1,2,3 8.8 1,4,5 7.8 831 2 1.8 1,3 7 2,5 2.9 1,2,4 8.5 2,3,4 4.5 974 3 1.5 1,4 6.7 3,4 2.7 1,2,5 8.4 2,3,5 4.4 1175 4 1.2 1,5 6.6 3,5 2.6 1,3,4 8.2 2,4,5 4.1 1268 5 1.1 2,3 3.3 4,5 2.3 1,3,5 8.1 3,4,5 3.8

Groups of 4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,5 2,3,4,5 3,4,5,1 4,5,1,2 Net worth, UN 10 9.9 5.6 9.3 9.6 Group of 5 1,2,3,4,5 Net worth, UN 11.1 Note : (2,3,1) is same as (1, 2,3) and (3, 4,2) same as (2, 3,4), and (4, 5, 3) is same as (3, 4, 5) and so on. The problem we are dealing with is of picking the combinations of r things out of n, or nCr such as 5C3 = 5!/3! 2! = 10, and so on. In 2013, we have one single Argentine macrostate: five billionaires with a combined net worth of $11.1B. The microstates being considered here have different net worths. We group the five billionaires in different ways to find their combined net worths. Since the sum of the net worths of billionaire 219 and 831 is same as the sum for billionaires 831 and 219, and so on, we are dealing with the problem of picking the combinations of r things out of n, or nCr where n = 5 and r = 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. This is NOT the same as the microstates of a system as discussed by Planck, where each complexion of the microstates taken together yield the same macrostate (all should have same total combined net worth, as when we just rearranged the money between the different billionaires).
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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$12.00 $10.00 $8.00

The Argentine groupings data fall on two essentially parallel lines with slopes h = 1.4 (upper group) and h = 1.37 (lower group)

(5, 11.1)

(1, 5.5)
$6.00 $4.00 $2.00

(4, 5.6)

(1, 1.5)
$0.00

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 4: The different microstates of the Argentine billionaire system.

5. The Kazakhstan Billionaires

As a further illustration, let us consider the Kazakhstan, the worlds largest landlocked country (click here). a fast growing country carved out of the former Soviet Union. The Forbes team found five billionaires in this country. However, as we see from the list given below, in Table 5, the top three billionaires have net worths which are very close, one each with $2.3B, $2.2B and $2.1B. The last two have a worth of $1.3B. The microstates diagram, Figure 5, now shows an interesting pattern where the parallel lines seen earlier do not spread out. There is very little vertical separation which also means a very small change in the nonzero intercept c made on the y-axis by the system of parallels.
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Table 5: Kazakhstan Billionaires Ranks and Net Worth

Forbes rank List no. Net worth, Uk 641 1 $2.3 670 2 $2.2 704 3 $2.1 1107 4 $1.3 1107 5 $1.3

Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$10.00 $9.00 $8.00 $7.00 $6.00 $5.00 $4.00 $3.00 $2.00 $1.00 $0.00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 5: The microstates diagram for the Kazakhstan billionaire system. With N = 5, we have 5! or 120 different ways of distributing the same total wealth of $9.2 B among the 5 Kazakhstani billionaires, if their ranks could be changed at will, as discussed earlier with Venezuela. The grouping the Argentine or Kazakhstani billionaires in different ways (without changing their individual ranks and wealths, as in Table 4) yields a large spread of points on the x-y microstates graph instead of the single point (5, 11.1) for all the Argentine billionaires, or the single point (5, 9.2) for the Kazakhstanis. The linear law, y = hx + c, revealed when we consider billionaires grouped by
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countries, or regions, see Figures 1 and 2, is thus a manifestation of the same law at a more fundamental level of grouping. As we see here from the Venezuela, Argentina, and Kazakhstan examples, the many different groupings, which is also a measure of the entropy, also leads to the same linear law relating the number of billionaires x and their combined net worth y.

6. Brief Discussion
The various methods of grouping the billionaires within a single country as discussed here, shows that the linear relation y = hx + c, revealed when we consider the data for several countries, in different regions, is a natural outcome of the laws of permutations and combinations. When we have a list of 1426 billionaires, there are obviously many different ways of grouping them to analyze various trends. One common method is to group them by country or citizenship. Another method would be group them by industries from which wealth is generated. Both methods are used by Forbes in the Special Billionaire Issue (March 25, 2013) to discuss the data for various regions of the world. A third method would be to consider the top 10, top 20, or top 35, as was done in the article discussing the meaning of the average net worth of billionaires in such grouping, see Ref. [24]. Here we have considered another approach that goes back to the most fundamental reckoning using the laws of permutations and combinations to group billionaires within a single country. In all cases, the same linear law y = hx + c where x is the number of billionaires and y is their combined net worth. The constant h and c can be deduced using just two data points or using the method of least squares. It is also significant the numerical value of the slope h = $3.94 B per billionaire observed here for the Latin American data is almost exactly the same as the slopes h = $4.2B and h = $4.4B deduced for Venezuela and also reported in
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several earlier articles where a number of countries were included in the analysis. The analysis of the data from the Forbes 2013 Billionaires list, and also the Hurun 2013 Rich list (a group based in Shanghai, China) also reveals exactly similar slope of h $4 B per billionaire. Finally, in several articles that can be found in this website, I have often made the statement that money in economics is just like energy in physics, or vice versa in several articles posted on this website, see for example Ref. [33]. While opinions differ among the historians of science, see Refs. [2,10,11], even about what Planck really thought about the steps he took in his famous December 1900 paper, it is clear, to me at least, that Planck is actually describing a new method of determining the average energy of N particles in an extremely complex system where N can be several trillions of trillions. There is a number called the Avogadro number, or the Avogadro constant, lets call it NA, which has the astoundingly large numerical value of 6.02214129(27) x 1023. It is named after a chemist (actually a lawyer by profession with scientific interests), who received no recognition during his life time and was laughed at by his contemporary, John Dalton, who is widely believed to the founder of modern atomic theory. Avogadro is splitting atoms, said Dalton, who could not comprehend the difference between an atom and a molecule that Avogadro had conceived. I will say no more here. The interested reader can find out more about this number and what it means (click here). It is now defined as the number of atoms in 12 grams of the carbon atom, or more precisely the carbon isotope C12 (since carbon atom can exist in many different forms, called isotopes, click here). One trillion is 1012 and so the Avogadro number is many many trillions. The combined net worth of all the 1426 billionaires of the world, in the Forbes 2013 list, is only $5.4 trillion. Planck was considering a system with particles N being many billions and trillions of Avogadro numbers.

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No modern computer, or supercomputer, can calculate the average energy, or average anything, by the process of summation, with N is so large. Yet, Planck was able to derive a simple mathematical formula for this average energy using some theoretical arguments that can be generalized and extended to determine the average value of any property of interest to us. I have discussed this in the recent article on the meaning of the average net worth of billionaires, see Ref. [24]. Unfortunately, it is also a lengthy article. In that article, I have provided a summary of how to arrive the Planck expression for the average energy of an extremely complex system, using a method that was described by none other than Einstein, in 1907, when he tried to apply Plancks ideas to describe certain properties of solids when they are heated (the property is called the specific heat of a solid). In fact, the method used by Einstein is, mathematically speaking, exactly analogous to the method used to determine the weighted average price of hundreds of stocks in various stock market indices like the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and so on. The method originally used by Planck in 1900, starts out by describing a characteristic of complex systems called entropy. If there are N particles with a total entropy SN, the average entropy S = SN/N, or SN = NS . The particles also have the property called energy. The total energy UN = NU. Then Planck introduces a third idea. The rate of change of the average energy U with respect of the average energy S is called the temperature of the system and is mathematically given by T = dU/dS or 1/T = dS/dU. He also introduces one more concept. Let UN = NU = P where P is another very large integer and is some (to be defined) elementary counting unit. The product of P and always ends up as being equal to NU. It is just like saying 24 = 8 x 3 = 12 x 2. We can always express the same total as a product in two different ways. With this, Planck is able to derive the most general expression for U that should have wide applications, well outside physics. Sometimes, I am amazed why this has NOT yet been widely explored in the last 112+ years now. Plancks expression can be written as
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U = [ e-/kT / (1 - e-/kT)] = (P/N) = [ g/(1 g)]

..(5)

The Boltzmann constant k appears in the calculation of entropy. The units of kT are the same as the units of . Hence the ratio /kT is a pure number and the expression within the square bracket of equation 5, [ e-/kT / (1 - e-/kT)], is also a pure number which can be greater or less than one. Notice also that the average U scales as by the factor P/N. Although physicists have generally forgotten the ratio P/N, the implications of the second equality of equation 5 cannot be overlooked. Planck arrives at equation 5 from equation 4 for entropy S after eliminating the ratio P/N and replacing it with the ratio U/ into equation 6 below and performing the differentiation dS/dU which introduces the temperature T. S = Nk { [(1 + (P/N)] ln [(1 + (P/N)] - (P/N) ln (P/N) } ..(6)

We all understand, at least intuitively, what energy means. It gives us the ability to do things. The colloquial term was borrowed and became a part of physics and glorified and enshrined in the worlds most famous equation, Einsteins E = mc2 which even a middle school student knows today. Here E is energy, c is the speed of light and m is the mass of a body. Mass and energy are equivalent, said Einstein, in 1905, when he developed his famous theory of relativity. There is another important equation for energy, much less known, E = h, or =h introduced into physics by Planck. Here h is the universal constant called the Planck constant and is the frequency and is the elementary counting entity used to determine the total energy of a complex system. Now, what is entropy?

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As Von Neumann reportedly told Shannon (see box on page 6), no one really understands entropy so calling something entropy is best way to have a position of advantage in a future debate. Planck, who was an expert of the second law of thermodynamics (the subject of Plancks doctoral thesis) , describes entropy as a property possessed by all complex systems. Here we have taken Plancks simple idea and generalize it to discuss the behavior of complex systems outside physics. Einstein says even light has the properties of entropy and energy and also the property called temperature. We think about heat and light as being separate entities and temperature as generally being associated with heat, not light. But Einstein talks about the temperature of light and low temperature radiation. Likewise, now we have discussed entropy as a property of the system of billionaires and how it arises. If so, what is the temperature of this billionaire system? Recall that, according to Planck T = dU/dS. If the energy increases by dU, or U, and the entropy increases by dS, or S, the ratio of these two changes determines the temperature T of the system. In our example, the entropy S is ultimately related to the number of billionaires N via the permutations and combinations formulae. (Plancks expression for average entropy S, see equation 6, includes the ratio P/N, see also equation 4). Hence, an increase in N is essentially equivalent to an increase in the entropy of the billionaire system. This is being plotted on the horizontal axis in our examples. The combined net worth UN is like the energy UN that Planck talks about. Hence, the various microstates diagrams considered here and the x-y graphs of combined net worth versus number of billionaires, are all graphs of the energy versus the entropy. The slope of these graphs therefore determines the temperature T of the billionaire system. This is the simplest explanation for the conceptions of temperature and entropy for a system like the billionaire system, building on the Planck
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conception in the December 1900 paper. The reader is urged to study the original paper and overlook the (sometimes confusing) discussions given by historian of science. Longairs treatise on theoretical concepts in physics, Ref. [34], also provides an excellent treatment of the fundamental contributions made by Planck and Einstein to develop quantum physics. But, even Longair and many others historians of science and physicists get into questions like Why did Planck get the right answer? when discussing his use of the elementary permutations and combinations formula, also found in Boltzmanns paper. The best route to understanding the generalization of the Planck and Einstein ideas to problems outside physics is go back to the very source: the original papers of Planck and Einstein, references to which have been provided. With this, I believe, I have provided the simplest explanation for the meaning of the enigmatic concepts of entropy and temperature using the billionaire problem. My study of such problems began in 1998 with the study of labor productivity data for (old) General Motors automotive plants (which were widely believed to be inefficient compared to their Japanese counterparts). I then quickly moved on to the study of the annual profits and revenues data for literally hundreds of companies found in lists such as the Fortune 500 and Forbes 500. The profit margin is also a y/x ratio with x being revenues and y the profits of the company. The analysis of the profits-revenues data for companies (also found in several articles posted on this website) follows exactly the discussion here. Again, we find the linear law y = hx + c when we study individual companies (over many quarters or years) or groups in companies (in the same sector of the economy), or from different sectors. We can attach the same conception of a temperature to this profits-revenue problem. And, perhaps, most interestingly, we see companies going through various transitions and ultimately also revealing a maximum point on the profits-revenues graph (see Ref. [33]). The appearance of this maximum point on the profits-revenues graph can be modeled using the generalized version
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of Plancks radiation law, which also reveals a maximum point. Einstein linear law is deduced from Plancks law and reveals the elementary in very special experiments such as the Nobel Prize winning experiments of Millikan, see Ref. [21] for Millikans own account in his Nobel lecture. And thus ends my journey, in some ways, into this fascinating field of study, which began in the summer of 1998 at the height of the strike that brought the worlds largest automaker to a grinding halt. Not a single car could be produced and all GM automotive plants stopped producing cars in 1998 because of the ripple effects. Even if just one part is missing among literally thousands of parts that enter into a modern automobile, the final assembly plant cannot ship out any cars. Why is GM so inefficient? Why is the American economy today so inefficient? Why are facing the global economic and financial crisis that we are facing today? The answer is shockingly simple. We have not understood, or rather overlooked the implications of the nonzero c in the ubiquitous law y = hx + c that we find when we analyze the empirical observations from many complex systems. Hence, the ratio y/x = h + (c/x) is not a constant and can either increase or decrease in apparently confusing and bewildering ways depending on how the constants h and c change over time. I sincerely hope the analysis of the billionaire problem presented here and in several related articles will also help lead others to take a fresh look at how we analyze corporate financial data and many such (x, y) tables being compiled daily, monthly, quarterly and an annual basis. Let a new journey began.

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7. Conclusions
1. Entropy is a property possessed by all complex systems and arises because there many possible microstates of the states that lead to the observed macrostate. The greater the number of ways of achieving the same macrostate, via many possible microstates, the greater the entropy. The number of microstates can be calculated using the elementary theory of permutations and combinations. 2. The entropy, as it applies to the billionaire problem, is ultimately related to the number of billionaires N is a group (based on country of citizenship, industry, regions, states of a country like the US, etc.). The simple linear law, y = hx + c, relating the number of billionaires x (or N) and their combined net worth y (or UN) is a manifestation of a more fundamental law revealed here by studying the many possible microstates for the billionaires in a single country. 3. The average net worth of the billionaires, the ratio U = y/x = h + (c/x) can either increase or decrease as the number of billionaires increases, depending the numerical values of h and c, which can be either positive or negative. The limiting value of the average U = h when the number of billionaires x becomes very large. This suggests a potential limits to growth situation, the implications of which must be fully explored (by the billionaires and all those interested in creating wealth). 4. More broadly speaking the methodology described here (to study the billionaire problem and the evolution of their combined and average net worth) can be extended to the analysis of large masses of (x, y) data being generated on a daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. One important example is the masses of profits and revenues data published in the lists such as the Fortune 500, Forbes 500, and the Business Week 500 and so on. Again, a linear law, y = hx + c, relating revenues x and profits y is observed most commonly. (This can be deduced from the classical breakeven analysis for the profitability of a company.) The ratio y/x is the profit margin. Thus, y/x = m = h + (c/x) can either increase or decrease with increasing revenues depending on the numerical values of the constant h
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and c (and how they change over time). Both positive and negative slope are observed as companies transition through at least three types of behavior (h > 0, c < 0, Type I), followed by (h > 0, c > 0, Type II), followed by (h < 0, c > 0, Type III). These transitions also lead to the maximum point on the profits-revenues graph which have now been observed for several companies such as the old General Motors, prior to its bankruptcy, Ford Motor Company, Yahoo, etc. The problems that are now facing Apple, Google, and Microsoft are ultimately rooted in the failure to recognize that the profit margin y/x has a limiting value equal to h, the slope of the profits-revenues graph. Indeed, even the appearance of a maximum point on the profits-revenues graph of a company (when data over many years is analyzed) has NOT yet been widely recognized by financial and business leaders and economists. The profits-revenues graph, with its maximum point, is described mathematically by a generalized version of Plancks law. 5. The wider application of these ideas to discuss many other problems such as the unemployment problem, various fatality problems (such as the traffic-accidents related fatality, cancer deaths, etc.), and other social problems such as the teenage pregnancy rates, obesity rates, have been addressed in other articles. 6. The implications of the nonzero c in the law y = hx + c must be appreciated. This nonzero c is exactly analogous to the work function W introduced by Einstein into physics, in his photoelectric law, K = W = hf W = h(f f0), to explain the existence of the cut-off frequency f0 = W/h. This cut-off frequency is a manifestation of the work function W, the work to be done to get the electron out of a metal when a stream of light photons, with energy hit the metal surface. Likewise, there is nonzero c in all problems that we analyze using simple y/x ratios while overlooking the deeper implications of the linear law y = hx + c. The ratio y/x = m thus has a limiting value of h and needs to be appreciated. 7. The extension of Plancks radiation law, and Einsteins law, especially the idea of a generalized work function, as suggested here, should be investigated critically.

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Page | 24

The Giants of Entropy and Statistical Physics

Sadi Carnot

Rudolf Clausius

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Sadi_Carnot.jpeg/300pxSadi_Carnot.jpeg and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Clausius.jpg

1. Die Energie der Welt ist konstant. (First law of thermodynamics) The energy of the world is constant. The energy of the universe is constant. 2. Die Entropie der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu. (Second law of thermodynamics) The entropy of the world strives to a maximum. The entropy of the universe is increasing. Q T http://physics.info/thermo-second/ S =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Heterogeneous_Substances

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James Clerk Maxwell (18311879)

Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Boltzmann

Max Planck in 1933 (1858-1947)

Einstein receives Planck medal

The inaugural award: Max Planck (left) presents Albert Einstein (right) with the Max Planck medal of the German Physical Society, 28 June 1929, in Berlin, Germany.

When Planck awarded the medal to Einstein he reportedly told Einstein that he was being given the medal for taking my horrible idea of energy quanta and turning it into the even more horrible idea of light quanta.
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Reference List
1. Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Summary of Regional Analysis, Published April 1, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/133321333/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires-and-Summary-of-the-Regional-Analysis Fuller discussion of entropy and Plancks average energy expression. 2. Max Planck: The Reluctant Revolutionary, by Helge Kragh, Physics World, December 2000, pp. 31-35, http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~krasny/math156_article_planck.pdf 3. Energy and Entropy, http://physics.info/thermo-second/ 4. On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Heterogeneous_Substances On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances - Wikipedia, the ...en.wikipedia.org/.../On_the_Equilibrium_of_Heterogeneous_Substan...Die Entropie der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu. ... facilitated by considering the energy and entropy of the system in the various states of which it is capable. 5. Rudolf Clausius, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Clausius 6. Rudolf Clausius, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rudolf_Clausius 7. The History of Entropy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_entropy
It is noted here that Clausius chose the symbol S to denote the entropy to honor Sadi Carnot upon whose work much of what Clausius did was founded. See also following quote attributed to Von Neumann during a discussion with Claude Shannon, who was studying the statistical nature of loss of information in telephone signals. Shannon reportedly said, My greatest concern was what to call it. I thought of calling it information, but the word was overly used, so I decided to call it uncertainty. When I discussed it with John von Neumann, he had a better idea. Von Neumann told me, You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage.

8. Entropy and the Clausius Inequality, http://www.academicearth.org/lectures/entropy-and-clausius-inequality 9. Max Planck: The Quantum Hypothesis, in Great Experiments in Physics, Edited by Morris H. Shamos, Dover Publications (1959), pp. 301-314.
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English translation of the original paper by Max Planck with brief explanatory notes by Shamos. 10. One Hundred Years of Quantum Physics, by Daniel Kleppner and Roman Jackiw, http://www.4physics.com/phy_demo/QM_Article/article.html 11. Planck, the Quantum and Historians, Phys. In Perspective, 4 (2002), pp. 170-215. by Clayton A. Gearhart, http://employees.csbsju.edu/cgearhart/pubs/PQH.pdf see discussion of Boltzmanns definition of entropy starting page 181, equations 5 and 6 on page 182, the expressions given here and Boltzmanns example of now entropy arises. Also, see equation 7 on page 186 for total number of complexions, equations 8 and 9 on page 188 and page 202. 12. Entropy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy In 1877 Boltzmann visualized a
probabilistic way to measure the entropy of an ensemble of ideal gas particles, in which he defined entropy to be proportional to the logarithm of the number of microstates such a gas could occupy. Henceforth, the essential problem in statistical thermodynamics, i.e. according to Erwin Schrdinger, has been to determine the distribution of a given amount of energy E over N identical systems. Also, later in the same.. The interpretation of entropy in statistical mechanics is the measure of uncertainty, or mixedupness in the phrase of Gibbs, which remains about a system after its observable macroscopic properties, such as temperature, pressure and volume, have been taken into account. For a given set of macroscopic variables, the entropy measures the degree to which the probability of the system is spread out over different possible microstates. In contrast to the macrostate, which characterizes plainly observable average quantities, a microstate specifies all molecular details about the system including the position and velocity of every molecule. The more such states available to the system with appreciable probability, the greater the entropy

13. Entropy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy 14. Entropy (Information theory) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_%28information_theory%29 15. The Mathematical Theory of Communication, by Claude E. Shannon, Bell System Tech Journal, Vol. 27, pp 379-423, 623-656, July, October, 1948, http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.pdf 16. What is Entropy? by V. Laxmanan, June 3, 2012, I have discussed Boltzmanns example from his 1877 paper here, Also discussed is the maximum point that is observed on the graph of profits versus revenues for Ford Motor Company, http://www.scribd.com/doc/95728457/What-is-Entropy 17. What is Entropy? by Arthur La Porta, December 11, 2012,
http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~alaporta/PHYS171_f12/lectures/pennies.pdf
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The entropy of a system is the logarithm of the number of microstates accessible to the system in a given macrostate, see the example of distribution of four pennies between two groups A and B. 18. On a heuristic point of view about the creation and conversion of light, by A. Einstein, 1905, Einsteins original paper which showed light can be viewed as particles with fixed energy quanta,
http://www.ffn.ub.es/luisnavarro/nuevo_maletin/Einstein_1905_heuristic.pdf

19. On a heuristic point of view concerning the production and transformation of light, Paper 5, in Einsteins Miraculous Year: Five Papers that changed the face of physics, Princeton Univ. Press (1998). http://press.princeton.edu/einstein/materials/light_quanta.pdf 20. Einsteins Quanta, Entropy, and the Photoelectric Effect, by Dwight E. Neuenschwander, Excellent discussion about how Einstein arrives at his conception of light quanta from the property called entropy possessed by radiation in the form light,
http://www.sigmapisigma.org/radiations/2004/elegant_connections_f04.pdf

21. The electron and light quant from experimental point of view, May 23, 1924, Nobel Lecture, by Robert Millikan, see Figure 4 on page 63, for experiments with sodium. The straight line graph for photoelectric experiments confirms Einsteins law. The slope of the graph gives the universal Planck constant h, one of the fundamental constants of nature. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1923/millika n-lecture.pdf 22. Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Summary of Regional Analysis, Published April 1, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/133321333/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires-and-Summary-of-the-Regional-Analysis Fuller discussion of entropy and Plancks average energy expression. 23. The Empirical Evidence for Entropy outside Physics, Published March 24, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132059874/The-EmpiricalEvidence-for-Entropy-Outside-Physics-Wealth-Distribution-among-thebillionaires-of-2013-Forbes-and-Hurun-Rich-Lists Plancks description of entropy and the Generalization of Plancks expression for the average

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24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

energy U is discussed along with a brief discussion of Einsteins work function. Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires, Published March http://www.scribd.com/doc/132910617/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires The data for the Top 35 worlds billionaires is discussed. Einsteins method of deriving the Planck average energy is described. The Empirical Evidence for Entropy outside Physics, Published March 24, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132059874/The-EmpiricalEvidence-for-Entropy-Outside-Physics-Wealth-Distribution-among-thebillionaires-of-2013-Forbes-and-Hurun-Rich-Lists Plancks description of entropy and the Generalization of Plancks expression for the average energy U is discussed along with a brief discussion of Einsteins work function. The Average Net Worth of the Top 10 Billionaires in a Country, Published March 11, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129863162/Average-Worth-of-the-Top-10Billionaires-in-a-Country Mapping the Wealth of the Words Billionaires, by Luisa Kroll, http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2013/03/09/mapping-thewealth-of-the-worlds-billionaires/ The Infographic provided here maps the number of billionaires N by country; created by Bob Mansfield and David Lada, March 9, 2013. This is integrated with the combined net worth data from Refs. [2] and [3] for the analysis presented here. Forbes Billionaires Asia-Pacific Map, by Ricardo Geromel, April 1, 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/04/01/forbesbillionaires-asia-pacific-map/ Provides combined net worth data for each country. Forbes Map of Billionaires of Latin America, by Ricardo Geromel, March 22, 2013, Provides combined net worth data for each country,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/29/mappingbillionaires-in-the-americas/

30. Forbes Billionaires, Special Issue, March 23, 2013, Profiles of the Top 20 Billionaires on pages 86 to 89.
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31. The Hurun Report, http://www.hurun.net/hurun/aboutusen.aspx 32. Hurun Global Rich List, http://www.hurun.net/usen/Default.aspx A Microsoft Excel with the full list of 1453 billionaires is available at this website, which was downloaded, sorted by country of citizenship, and analyzed to prepare this article. 33. Money in Economics is Just like Energy in Physics: Extending Plancks law beyond Physics, Published January 14, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/120324960/Money-in-Economics-is-Justlike-Energy-in-Physics-Extending-Planck-s-law-beyond-Physics 34. Theoretical concepts in physics, by M. S. Longair, Cambridge University Press (1984). http://www.amazon.com/Theoretical-Concepts-PhysicsAlternative-Reasoning/dp/052152878X Chapters 9 to 15 (case studies IV and V) and also chapters under Case Study II (Maxwell equations and electromagnetism) are highly recommended and cover the Planck and Einstein laws which are actually founded upon Maxwells work. 35. A Brief biography of Max Planck, http://cosweb1.fau.edu/~jordanrg/bios/Planck/Planck_bio.htm 36. Great Experiment in Physics: Firsthand Accounts from Galileo to ... - Page 367 books.google.com/books?isbn=0486253465 Morris H. Shamos 1959 - Preview - More editions Firsthand Accounts from Galileo to Einstein Morris H. Shamos ... See quantum hypothesis; Planck, Max radiation, Maxwell's principle of, 185; density of, 306, 307; nature of, 216-217; rectilinear propagation of, 216 radioactivity, and atomic ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=NwkXXyXmQdcC&pg=PA367&dq=plan ck+shamos+quantum+hypothesis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2HVcUbfTGaC0QGl9YCQBg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=planck%20shamos% 20quantum%20hypothesis&f=false (The original text of Plancks December 1900 paper may be found by clicking on the link given here.)
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Related articles on the Billionaire Problem

1. Entropy and the Forbes Billionaires: Net Worth is not the only property possessed by billionaires, Published April 3, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/133763628/Entropy-and-the-ForbesBillionaires see also http://www.scribd.com/doc/133762538/Entropyand-the-Forbes-Billionaires 2. Average Net Worth of the 2013 Asia-Pacific Billionaires, Published April 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/133530737/The-Average-NetWorth-of-2013-Forbes-Asia-Pacific-Billionaires 3. The Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Summary of Regional Analysis, Published March 31, 2013; please also take a look at the closely related Refs. [1,4] where the concept of entropy and how it appears in a complex system is again discussed. 4. The Average Net Worth of the Forbes Billionaires, Published March 28, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132910617/The-Average-Net-Worthof-the-Forbes-2013-Billionaires A comprehensive discussion of both Plancks (1900) and Einsteins (1907) methods of arriving at the SAME expression for the average energy U of a system of N particles in physics. Planck introduces the concept of entropy while Einstein introduces the concept of quantization, i.e., energy goes as 0, , 2 and so on, very explicitly. Planck is less explicit on this point. 5. The Median Net Worth of the 2013 Forbes Billionaires: Why the median is a meaningless stat, Published March 26, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/132433860/An-Essay-on-the-MedianForbes-2013-Billionaire-Why-the-Median-is-a-meaningless-stat 6. The Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Accumulation of the first trillion, Published March 27, 2013 7. Average Net Worth of Billionaires and Ordinary US households, Published March 24, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132189331/Average-Net-Worth-ofBillionaires-and-Ordinary-US-Households

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8. Empirical Evidence for Entropy Outside Physics: Wealth Distribution among billionaires in the 2013 Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132059874/The-Empirical-Evidence-forEntropy-Outside-Physics-Wealth-Distribution-among-the-billionaires-of2013-Forbes-and-Hurun-Rich-Lists Published March 24, 2013. 9. Wealth Distribution between the 2013 Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131830628/Wealth-Distribution-Betweenthe-2013-Forbes-and-the-Hurun-Rich-Lists, Published Mar 22, 2013. 10. Average Net Worth by Country - Part 1: Preliminary Analysis of the 2013 Forbes Billionaire Data, Published March 18, 2013. http://www.scribd.com/doc/131208984/The-Average-Net-Worth-byCountry-Part-I-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaires-Data 11. Average Net Worth by Country - Part 2: Analysis of the 2013 Worlds Billionaire Data, to be published March xx, 2013. 12. China has fewer billionaires than most other large countries, Published March 21, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131583456/China-Has-Fewer-BillionairesAccording-to-the-Billionaire-Net-Worth-Analysis2013 13. Average Net Worth of Billionaires by Country: 2013 Hurun Rich List,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131764299/Average-Net-Worth-of-Billionairesby-Country-The-2013-Hurun-Rich-List Published March 22, 2013.

14. The Average Net Worth by Country, Part 1: Introducing the x-y Diagram, Preliminary Analysis of the Forbes 2013 Worlds Billionaires Data, Published March 19, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131208984/The-Average-Net-Worth-byCountry-Part-I-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaires-Data 15. Average Net Worth by Country - Part 2: Analysis of the 2013 Worlds Billionaire Data, to be Published March xx, 2013. 16. The Recent Growth in the Average Worth of US Billionaires (09-13) A Curious Limits to Growth Revealed Again, Published March 18, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/131005255/The-Recent-Growth-in-theAverage-Worth-of-US-Billionaires-%E2%80%9909-%E2%80%9813-ACurious-Limits-to-Growth-Revealed-Again

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17.Quantitative Comparison of the Billionaires in the Forbes Hall of Fame, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130826078/Quantitative-Comparison-of-theBillionaires-in-the-Forbes-Hall-of-Fame Published March 17, 2013. 18.Growth in the Combined Net Worth of Billionaires from 2000-2013: An Interesting Limits to Growth is Revealed, Published March 15, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130517722/Growth-in-the-Combined-Net-Worthof-Billionaires-From-2000-2013-An-Interesting-Limit-to-Growth-is-Revealed 19.Growth of Billionaires Worldwide and in the USA: Analysis of the number of billionaires data since 1982, Published March 14, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130377891/The-Growth-of-BillionairesWorldwide-and-in-USA-Analysis-of-the-data-since-1982 20.Countries with the most billionaires in the 2013 Forbes Billionaire List, Published March 9, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129406030/Countrieswith-Most-Billionaires-in-the-Forbes-2013-Billionaires-List 21.Average worth of the Top 10 Billionaires in a Country, Published Mar 11, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129863162/Average-Worth-of-the-Top-10Billionaires-in-a-Country 22.Per Capita Trends for Ultra High Net Worth Residents in US Cities, Published March 11, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129722844/Per-CapitaTrends-for-the-Ultra-High-Net-Worth-UHNW-Residents-in-US-Cities 23.Europe and Asia-Pacific billionaires in the Forbes 2013 list: Whats the difference? Published March 10, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/129634796/Europe-and-Asia-Pacific-Billionairesin-the-2013-Forbes-List-What-s-the-difference 24. The Rate of Creation of Billionaires: Analysis of the Forbes 2013 Billionaire List, Published March 6, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/128944910/The-Rate-of-Creation-ofBillionaires-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaire-s-List 25. Billionaires and Calculus: Ratio versus Rate of Change Is Einsteins Work Function Observed In this Problem? Published March 5, 2013. http://www.scribd.com/doc/128610494/The-Forbes-Billionaires-andCalculus-Is-Einstein-s-Work-Function-Observed-Here 26. Billionaires and the Population Law: Analysis of the 2013 Forbes Billionaires List, to be published shortly.
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About the author V. Laxmanan, Sc. D.

The author obtained his Bachelors degree (B. E.) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Poona and his Masters degree (M. E.), also in Mechanical Engineering, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, followed by a Masters (S. M.) and Doctoral (Sc. D.) degrees in Materials Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. He then spent his entire professional career at leading US research institutions (MIT, Allied Chemical Corporate R & D, now part of Honeywell, NASA, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and General Motors Research and Development Center in Warren, MI). He holds four patents in materials processing, has co-authored two books and published several scientific papers in leading peer-reviewed international journals. His expertise includes developing simple mathematical models to explain the behavior of complex systems. While at NASA and CWRU, he was responsible for developing material processing experiments to be performed aboard the space shuttle and developed a simple mathematical model to explain the growth Christmas-tree, or snowflake, like structures (called dendrites) widely observed in many types of liquid-to-solid phase transformations (e.g., freezing of all commercial metals and alloys, freezing of water, and, yes, production of snowflakes!). This led to a simple model to explain the growth of dendritic structures in both the groundbased experiments and in the space shuttle experiments. More recently, he has been interested in the analysis of the large volumes of data from financial and economic systems and has developed what may be called the Quantum Business Model (QBM). This extends (to financial and economic systems) the mathematical arguments used by Max Planck to develop quantum physics using the analogy Energy = Money, i.e., energy in physics is like money in economics. Einstein applied Plancks ideas to describe the photoelectric effect (by treating light as being composed of particles called photons, each with the fixed quantum of energy conceived by Planck). The mathematical law deduced by Planck, referred to here as the generalized power-exponential law, might
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actually have many applications far beyond blackbody radiation studies where it was first conceived. Einsteins photoelectric law is a simple linear law and was deduced from Plancks non-linear law for describing blackbody radiation. It appears that financial and economic systems can be modeled using a similar approach. Finance, business, economics and management sciences now essentially seem to operate like astronomy and physics before the advent of Kepler and Newton. Finally, during my professional career, I also twice had the opportunity and great honor to make presentations to two Nobel laureates: first at NASA to Prof. Robert Schrieffer (1972 Physics Nobel Prize), who was the Chairman of the Schrieffer Committee appointed to review NASAs space flight experiments (following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986) and second at GM Research Labs to Prof. Robert Solow (1987 Nobel Prize in economics), who was Chairman of Corporate Research Review Committee, appointed by GM corporate management.

Cover page of AirTran 2000 Annual Report

Can you see that plane flying above the tall tree tops that make a nearly perfect circle? It requires a great deal of imagination to see and to photograph it.

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r opaniad Invocation
There is a story going around on the Internet that when Thomas Edison invented his gramophone the first words recorded were those from the Isopanishad. The invocatory verse of this Upanishad is given below. Intrigued by this story, I did a bit of research and found out that the first words recorded were from the nursery rhyme that we all learn as children (at least in the English speaking world), Mary had a little lamb. Regardless, the invocatory verse here is a profound revelation. I have also learned recently that British schools are promoting Sanskrit and that there is also a PERFECT You-tube rendition of the Isopanishad by British high schoolers. What has this got to do with ? Read on.

The opening invocation prefaced to the Isha Upanishad

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isha_UpanishadAn opening invocation prefaced to the Isha Upanishad

http://vedabase.com/en/iso/chapter-view o pram ada pram ida prt pram udacyate prasya pram dya pram evvaiyate

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Word for word meaning: o the Complete Whole; pram perfectly complete; ada that; pram perfectly complete; idam this phenomenal world; prt from the all-perfect; pram complete unit; udacyate is produced; prasya of the Complete Whole; pram completely, all; dya having been taken away; pram the complete balance; eva even; avaiyate is remaining.

Translation (mine first paragraph below, modified slightly from the original cited here; see the bolded blue text):

Om! That is perfect and complete (o pram ada). This is perfect and complete (pram ida). Whatever arises (udacyate) from the Perfect and Complete Whole (prt) is also perfect and complete (pram). Taking the perfect and the complete (pram dya) of (or which belongs to) the Perfect and the Complete Whole (prasya) only leaves behind that which is also a perfect and complete whole (pram evvaiyate). (That means the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead. This means the phenomenal world, the material universe and all of material creation.) The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

What has this got to do with ?

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