Jaynes’ Maximum Entropy Principle, Riemannian Metrics and Generalised Least Action Bound

The set of solutions inferred by the generic maximum entropy (MaxEnt) or maximum relative entropy (MaxREnt) principles of Jaynes – considered as a function of the moment constraints or their conjugate Lagrangian multipliers – is endowed with a Riemannian geometric description, based on the second differential tensor of the entropy or its Legendre transform (negative Massieu function). The analysis provides a generalised least action bound applicable to all Jaynesian systems, which provides a lower bound to the cost (in generic entropy units) of a transition between inferred positions along a specified path, at specified rates of change of the control parameters. The analysis therefore extends the concepts of “finite time thermodynamics” to the generic Jaynes domain, providing a link between purely static (stationary) inferred positions of a system, and dynamic transitions between these positions (as a function of time or some other coordinate). If the path is unspecified, the analysis gives an absolute lower bound for the cost of the transition, corresponding to the geodesic of the Riemannian hypersurface. The analysis is applied to (i) an equilibrium thermodynamic system subject to mean internal energy and volume constraints, and (ii) a flow system at steady state, subject to constraints on the mean heat, mass and momentum fluxes and chemical reaction rates. The first example recovers the minimum entropy cost of a transition between equilibrium positions, a widely used result of finite-time thermodynamics. The second example leads to a new minimum entropy production principle, for the cost of a transition between steady state positions of a flow system.