Nonequilibrium thermodynamics and scale invariance

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel nonequilibrium thermodynamic framework based on scale invariance, replacing traditional assumptions, and derives classical and nonlinear thermodynamic principles from this single postulate.

Contribution

It proposes a scale invariance postulate that unifies and extends classical and nonlinear nonequilibrium thermodynamics theories.

Findings

Derives classical linear thermodynamics results deductively.

Provides statements for nonlinear thermodynamics such as maximum entropy production.

Replaces assumptions of local equilibrium with a scale invariance principle.

Abstract

A variant of continuous nonequilibrium thermodynamic theory based on the postulate of the scale invariance of the local relation between generalized fluxes and forces has been proposed. This single postulate replaces the assumptions on local equilibrium and on the known relation between thermodynamic fluxes and forces, which are widely used in classical nonequilibrium thermodynamics. It has been shown that such a modification not only makes it possible to deductively obtain the main results of classical linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics, but also provides a number of statements for a nonlinear case (maximum entropy production principle, macroscopic reversibility principle, and generalized reciprocity relations) that are under discussion in the literature.