Lagrange Equations Coupled to a Thermal Equation: Mechanics as Consequence of Thermodynamics

Following the analytic approach to thermodynamics developed by Stückelberg, we study the evolution equations of a closed thermodynamic system consisting of point particles in a fluid. We obtain a system of coupled differential equations describing the mechanical and the thermal evolution of the system. The coupling between these evolution equations is due to the action of a viscous friction term. Finally, we apply our coupled evolution equations to study the thermodynamics of an isolated system consisting of identical point particles interacting through a harmonic potential.