Fluctuations and Irreversible Thermodynamics

Irreversible Thermodynamics

There are alternative sets of postulates which yield entirely equivalent results for several important theories. In such cases the choice of a particular set of postulates may be based upon mathematical simplicity, close relationship to experiments or to the nature of the theory, or merely personal taste. While the postulate of conservation of energy is usually presented in similar form for the...

Thermoelastkity and Irreversible Thermodynamics

A unified treatment is presented of thermoelasticity by application and further developments of the methods of irreversible thermodynamics. The concept of generalized free energy introduced in a previous publication plays the role of a " thermoelastic potential " and is used along with a new definition of the dissipation function in terms of the time derivative of an entropy displacement. The g...

Basics of Irreversible Thermodynamics

Irreversible Thermodynamics and Rate Theory.

Introduction.-The "classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics"1 may be said to have its origin in the formulation of the "reciprocity relations" by Onsager.2 The basis of this theory may be summarized briefly as follows (for a complete discussion see works cited in ref. 1 and 2): in the limit of small excursions from thermodynamic equilibrium, changes in the properties of any system are de...

Gibbs Entropy and Irreversible Thermodynamics

Recently a number of approaches has been developed to connect the microscopic dynamics of particle systems to the macroscopic properties of systems in nonequilibrium stationary states, via the theory of dynamical systems. This way a direct connection between dynamics and Irreversible Thermodynamics has been claimed to have been found. However, the main quantity used in these studies is a (coars...