change, due to viscosity or other entropy production, does not impinge on this classical usage. Thus for a mass of gas, in macroscopic thermodynamics, words are so used that a compression is sometimes loosely or approximately said to be adiabatic if it is rapid enough to avoid heat transfer, even if the system is not adiabatically isolated. But in quantum statistical theory, a compression is not called adiabatic if it is rapid, even if the system is adiabatically isolated in the classical thermodynamic sense of the term. The words are used differently in the two disciplines, as stated just above. See also Fire piston Heat burst Related physics topics First law of thermodynamics Entropy (classical thermodynamics) Adiabatic conductivity Adiabatic lapse rate Total air temperature Magnetic refrigeration Berry phase Related thermodynamic processes Cyclic process Isobaric process Isenthalpic process Isentropic process Isochoric process Isothermal process Polytropic process Quasistatic process References General Nave, Carl Rod. "Adiabatic Processes". HyperPhysics. Thorngren, Dr. Jane R.. "Adiabatic Processes". Daphne – A Palomar College Web Server., 21 July 1995.. External links Article in HyperPhysics Encyclopaedia Thermodynamic processes Atmospheric thermodynamics Entropy