On the selection of the state space in nonequilibrium thermodynamics

Roberto Luzzi, Aurea R. Vasconcellos, José Casas-Vázquez and David Jou

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1998, vol. 248, issue 1, 111-137

Abstract: We address here the question of the choice and interpretation of state variables in the thermodynamical description of systems arbitrarily away from equilibrium. It is presented a discussion of the topic in the framework of informational statistical thermodynamics, an approach based on Gibbs algorithm for nonequilibrium dissipative systems, which provides mechano-statistical foundations to phenomenological theories of irreversible thermodynamics. The theory is applied in the case of a particular system consisting of the mobile carriers in a highly excited photo-injected plasma in semiconductors. The concepts and results thus obtained are tested against experimental data in time-resolved and time-integrated optical laser spectroscopy. It is shown how equilibrium thermodynamic variables are evidenced and measured in such experiments. It is also discussed the influence on them of the inclusion of dissipative fluxes among the basic variables.

Keywords: Irreversible thermodynamics; Nonequilibrium statistical ensemble; Nonlinear kinetic theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037843719700530X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:248:y:1998:i:1:p:111-137

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(97)00530-X

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().