We analyze some models of nonequilibrium systems proposed in the past decade which derive the laws of Irreversible Thermodynamics from deterministic dynamics. We find that these models do not posses the crucial property of local thermodynamic equilibrium, since they represent noninteracting particles systems. Hence, these models are not suited for a derivation of Irreversible Thermodynamics. In...

Finite-time thermodynamics is the extension of traditional reversible thermodynamics to include the extra requirement that the process in question goes to completion in a specified finite length of time. As such it is by definition a branch of irreversible thermodynamics, but unlike most other versions of irreversible thermodynamics, finite-time thermodynamics does not require or assume any kno...

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...

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...