The Maximum Entropy Principle in Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: A Brief History and the Contributions of Wolfgang Dreyer

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical development of the Maximum Entropy Principle in nonequilibrium thermodynamics, highlighting Wolfgang Dreyer's contributions in classical and relativistic contexts and comparing with Rational Extended Thermodynamics.

Contribution

It emphasizes Wolfgang Dreyer's pioneering work on applying the Maximum Entropy Principle to moments of the Boltzmann equation in both classical and relativistic frameworks.

Findings

Dreyer's classical approach using the Maximum Entropy Principle

Dreyer's relativistic extension of the principle

Comparison with Rational Extended Thermodynamics results

Abstract

We present a brief history of how the famous Maximum Entropy Principle was used as closure of moments of the Boltzmann equation. In particular, we want to remark on the important role of two fundamental papers by Wolfgang Dreyer, one in the classical framework and one in a relativistic context, to use this principle and to compare the result with the macroscopic theory of Rational Extended Thermodynamics.