The maximum entropy production principle and linear irreversible processes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the equivalence between Onsager's least dissipation principle and the maximum entropy production principle, showing that stationary solutions of linear irreversible processes maximize entropy production.

Contribution

It establishes the maximum entropy production principle as equivalent to Onsager's principle and clarifies that stationary solutions maximize entropy production.

Findings

Onsager's principle is equivalent to maximum entropy production.

Stationary solutions of linearized Boltzmann equation maximize entropy production.

The extremum in stationary processes is a maximum, not a minimum.

Abstract

It is shown that Onsager's principle of the least dissipation of energy is equivalent to the maximum entropy production principle. It is known that solutions of the linearized Boltzmann equation make extrema of entropy production. It is argued, in the case of stationary processes, that this extremum is a maximum rather than a minimum.