Entropy production in nonequilibrium thermodynamics: a review
Abstract
Entropy might be a not well defined concept if the system can undergo transformations involving stationary nonequilibria. It might be analogous to the heat content (once called ``caloric'') in transformations that are not isochoric (i.e. which involve mechanical work): it could be just a quantity that can be transferred or created, like heat in equilibrium. The text first reviews the philosophy behind a recently proposed definition of entropy production in nonequilibrium stationary systems. A detailed technical attempt at defining the entropy of a stationary states via their variational properties follows: the unsatisfactory aspects of the results add arguments in favor of the nonexistence of a function of state to be identified with entropy; at the same time new aspects and properties of the phase space contraction emerge.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0312657,
title = {Entropy production in nonequilibrium thermodynamics: a review},
author = {Giovanni Gallavotti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0312657},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
This replacement (april 2004) strictly contains the first version and substantially extends it. Title change: creation -> production