From Maximum Entropy to Maximum Entropy Production: A New Approach

Evidence from climate science suggests that a principle of maximum thermodynamic entropy production can be used to make predictions about some physical systems. I discuss the general form of this principle and an inherent problem with it, currently unsolved by theoretical approaches: how to determine which system it should be applied to. I suggest a new way to derive the principle from statistical mechanics, and present a tentative solution to the system boundary problem. I discuss the need for experimental validation of the principle, and its impact on the way we see the relationship between thermodynamics and kinetics.