Covers a wide spectrum of applications and contains a wide discussion of the foundations and the scope of the most current theories of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The new edition reflects new developments and contains a new chapter on the interplay between hydrodynamics and thermodynamics.

Classical irreversible thermodynamics, as developed by Onsager, Prigogine and many other authors, is based on the local-equilibrium hypothesis. Out of equilibrium, any system is assumed to depend locally on the same set of variables as when it is in eqUilibrium. This leads to a formal thermody namic structure identical to that of eqUilibrium: intensive parameters such as temperature, pressure and chemical potentials are well-defined quantities keeping their usual meaning, thermodynamic potentials are derived as Leg endre transformations and all equilibrium thermodynamic relations retain their validity. The theory based on this hypothesis has turned out to be very useful and has achieved a number of successes in many practical situations. of interest in going However, the recent decade has witnessed a surge beyond the classical formulation. There are several reasons for this. One of them is the development of experimental methods able to deal with the response of systems to high-frequency and short-wavelength perturbations, such as ultrasound propagation and light and neutron scattering. The ob served results have led to generalizations of the classical hydrodynamical theories, by including memory functions or generalized transport coefficients depending on the frequency and the wavevector. This field has generated impressive progress in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, but for the moment it has not brought about a parallel development in non-equilibrium thermodynamics. An extension of thermodynamics compatible with gener alized hydrodynamics therefore appears to be a natural subject of research.

Modern technology strives towards higher speed, higher power, and higher miniaturiza tion. In these conditions, the classical transport equations must be updated in order to incorporate memory, non-local, and non-linear effects. These effects have been studied by starting from microscopic models which are specific to particular systems and whose solution requires mathematical approximations and boundary conditions. The aim of extended irreversible thermodynamics is to complement such microscopic analyses with a macroscopic framework which could play, with respect to the generalized trans port equations incorporating the aforementioned effects, a role similar to the one played by classical thermodynamics with respect to the classical transport equations. Such a macroscopic framework is particularly useful for comparing the results obtained from various microscopic models, for placing some restrictions on the range of validity of different approximations, and for settling a discussion on some basic concepts that arise unavoidably in a formalism that crosses the frontiers of the local-equilibrium theory. Extended irreversible thermodynamics is not at all in conflict with the classical theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and rational thermodynamics but must be viewed as a relevant extension of the scope of these descriptions. For the student or the researcher, it may be stimulating to go beyond the classical theories and to enter a of new ideas, new applications, and new problems.

Some aspects of the physics of many-body systems arbitrarily away from equilibrium, mainly the characterization and irreversible evolution of their macroscopic state, are considered. The present status of phenomenological irreversible thermodynamics is described. An approach for building a statistical thermodynamics - dubbed Informational-Statistical-Thermodynamics - based on a non-equilibrium statistical ensemble formalism is presented. The formalism can be considered as encompassed within the scope of the so-called Predictive Statistical Mechanics, in which the predictability of future states in terms of the knowledge of present and past states, and the question of historicity in the case of systems with complex behaviour, is its main characteristic. The book is recommended for researchers in the area of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, as well as a textbook for advanced courses for graduate students in the area of condensed matter physics.

Extended Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics provides powerful tools departing not from empirical or statistical considerations but from fundamental thermodynamic laws, proposing final solutions that are readily usable and recognizable for students, researchers and industry. The book deals with methods that allow combining easily the present theory with other fields of science, such as fluid and solid mechanics, heat and mass transfer processes, electricity and thermoelectricity, and so on. Not only are such combinations facilitated, but they are incorporated into the developments in such a way that they become part of the theory. This book aims at providing for a systematic presentation of Extended Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics in nanosystems with a high degree of applicability. Furthermore, the book deals with how physical properties of systems behave as a function of their size. Moreover, it provides for a systematic approach to understand the behavior of thermal, electrical, thermoelectric, photovoltaic and nanofluid properties in nanosystems. Experimental results are used to validate the theory, the comparison is analysed, justified and discussed, and the theory is then again used to understand better experimental observations. The new developments in this book, being recognizable in relation with familiar concepts, should make it appealing for academics and researchers to teach and apply and graduate students to use. The text in this book is intended to bring attention to how the theory can be applied to real-life applications in nanoscaled environments. Case studies, and applications of theories, are explored including thereby nanoporous systems, solar panels, nanomedicine drug permeation and properties of nanoporous scaffolds. Explores new generalized thermodynamic models Provides introductory context of Extended Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics within classical thermodynamics, theoretical fundamentals and several applications in nanosystems Provides for a systematic approach to understand the behavior of thermal, electric, thermoelectric and viscous properties as a function of several parameters in nanosystems Includes reflections to encourage the reader to think further and put the information into context Examines future developments of new constitutive equations and theories and places them in the framework of real-life applications in the energetic and medical sectors, such as photovoltaic and thermoelectric devices, nanoporous media, drug delivery and scaffolds

This book presents the fundamentals of irreversible thermodynamics for nonlinear transport processes in gases and liquids, as well as for generalized hydrodynamics extending the classical hydrodynamics of Navier, Stokes, Fourier, and Fick. Together with its companion volume on relativistic theories, it provides a comprehensive picture of the kinetic theory formulated from the viewpoint of nonequilibrium ensembles in both nonrelativistic and, in Vol. 2, relativistic contexts. Theories of macroscopic irreversible processes must strictly conform to the thermodynamic laws at every step and in all approximations that enter their derivation from the mechanical principles. Upholding this as the inviolable tenet, the author develops theories of irreversible transport processes in fluids (gases or liquids) on the basis of irreversible kinetic equations satisfying the H theorem. They apply regardless of whether the processes are near to or far removed from equilibrium, or whether they are linear or nonlinear with respect to macroscopic fluxes or thermodynamic forces. Both irreversible Boltzmann and generalized Boltzmann equations are used for deriving theories of irreversible transport equations and generalized hydrodynamic equations, which rigorously conform to the tenet. All observables described by the so-formulated theories therefore also strictly obey the tenet.

This multiauthored volume sketches the applications of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to complex systems. These are characterized by an involved form of the Gibbs equation and include systems such as solutions of macromolecules, magnetic hysteresis bodies, viscoelastic fluids, polarizable media, fluids under stresses and in the presence of essential nonstationarities, and high temperature gradients. As a rule, the so- called internal variables and/or dissipative fluxes are essential in the thermodynamic description of such systems.

Despite a long history of almost 180 years stretching back to the times of Carnot and, later, Clausius and Lord Kelvin, amongst others following him, the subject of thermodynamics has not as yet seen its full maturity, in the sense that the theory of irreversible processes has remained incomplete. The works of L. Onsager, J. Meixner, I. Prigogine on the thermodyn- ics of linear irreversible processes are, in effect, the early efforts toward the desired goal of giving an adequate description of irreversible processes, but their theory is confined to near-equilibrium phenomena. The works in recent years by various research workers on the extension of the aforem- tioned thermodynamic theory of linear irreversible processes are further efforts toward the goal mentioned. The present work is another of such efforts and a contribution to the subject of generalizing the thermodyn- ics of reversible processes, namely, equilibrium thermodynamics, to that of irreversible processes—non-equilibrium thermodynamics, without being restricted to linear irreversible processes. In this context the terms ‘far - moved from equilibrium’ is often used in the literature, and such states of macroscopic systems and non-linear irreversible phenomena in them are the objects of interest in this work. The thermodynamics of processes, either reversible or irreversible, is a continuum mechanical theory of matter and energy and their exchange between different parts of the system, and as such it makes no direct r- erence to the molecules constituting the substance under consideration.

Maximum Dissipation: Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and its Geometric Structure explores the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium processes in materials. The book develops a general technique created in order to construct nonlinear evolution equations describing non-equilibrium processes, while also developing a geometric context for non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Solid materials are the main focus in this volume, but the construction is shown to also apply to fluids. This volume also: • Explains the theory behind thermodynamically-consistent construction of non-linear evolution equations for non-equilibrium processes • Provides a geometric setting for non-equilibrium thermodynamics through several standard models, which are defined as maximum dissipation processes • Emphasizes applications to the time-dependent modeling of soft biological tissue Maximum Dissipation: Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and its Geometric Structure will be valuable for researchers, engineers and graduate students in non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the mathematical modeling of material behavior.

Entropy and entropy generation play essential roles in our understanding of many diverse phenomena ranging from cosmology to biology. Their importance is manifest in areas of immediate practical interest such as the provision of global energy as well as in others of a more fundamental flavour such as the source of order and complexity in nature. They also form the basis of most modern formulations of both equilibrium and nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Today much progress is being made in our understanding of entropy and entropy generation in both fundamental aspects and application to concrete problems. The purpose of this volume is to present some of these recent and important results in a manner that not only appeals to the entropy specialist but also makes them accessible to the nonspecialist looking for an overview of the field. This book contains fourteen contributions by leading scientists in their fields. The content covers such topics as quantum thermodynamics, nonlinear processes, gravitational and irreversible thermodynamics, the thermodynamics of Taylor dispersion, higher order transport, the mesoscopic theory of liquid crystals, simulated annealing, information and biological aspects, global energy, photovoltaics, heat and mass transport and nonlinear electrochemical systems. Audience: This work will be of value to physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers interested in the theory and applications of entropy and its generation.