Using the mathematical theory of Brownian motion, this book comprehensively develops the statistical basis of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Following a summary of the phenomenological approach to nonequilibrium thermodynamics and an introduction to Brownian motion, Professor Lavenda presents well-known theorems in nonequilibrium thermodynamics from a unifying standpoint of stochastic theory and statistical formulations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, and shows how the phenomenological laws of nonequilibrium thermodynamics arise in the limit of small thermal fluctuations and in the Gaussian limit where means and modes of the distribution coincide. The theory of brownian motion is assumed to be a rather general and useful model of irreversible processes that are inevitably influenced by random thermal fluctuations. The unifying approach adopted allows widely applicable principles to be extracted from the analysis of particular models, an approach which is unique to this book.The content is arranged by argument rather than by chronology. It is based on the premise that random thermal fluctuations play a decisive role in governing the evolution of nonequilibrium thermodynamic processes. Also that they can be viewed as a dynamic superposition of a large number of random events with the important proviso that the future evolution depends only on the present, independent of its entire past history.The book is intended for nonmathematicians working in the areas of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Those interested will include chemical physicists working on nonlinear dynamic phenomena, solid state physics and those working in the field of nonlinear optics. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of nonequilibrium thermodynamics research, theoretical biologists, economists and engineers will find this book of value.ContentsPrefaceNonequilibrium ThermodynamicsBrownian Motion TheoryStochastic Foundations of Nonequilibrium ThermodynamicsOnsager-Machlup TheoryThe Kinetic Analog of Boltzmann's PrincipleStochastic H TheoremThe Thermodynamic LimitIndex

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Product Description: This book is intended for scientists, researchers, and graduate students interested in solutions in general, and solutions of metals in particular. Readers are assumed to have a good background in thermodynamics, presented in such books as those cited at the end of Chapter 1, "Thermo­ dynamic Background...read more

Product Description: The structure of the theory ofthermodynamics has changed enormously since its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century. Shortly after Thomson and Clausius enunciated their versions of the Second Law, Clausius, Maxwell, and Boltzmann began actively pursuing the molecular basis of thermo­ dynamics, work that culminated in the Boltzmann equation and the theory of transport processes in dilute gases...read more

Product Description: 'Why are atoms so small?' asks 'naive physicist' in Erwin Schrodinger's book 'What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell'. 'The question is wrong' answers the author, 'the actual problem is why we are built of such an enormous number of these particles'...read more

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Product Description: The 10th International Workshop on Maximum Entropy and Bayesian Methods, MaxEnt 90, was held in Laramie, Wyoming from 30 July to 3 August 1990. This volume contains the scientific presentations given at that meeting. This series of workshops originated in Laramie in 1981, where the first three of what were to become annual workshops were held...read more

Substances possessing heterogeneous microstructure on the nanometer and micron scales are scientifically fascinating and technologically useful. Examples of such substances include liquid crystals, microemulsions, biological matter, polymer mixtures and composites, vycor glasses, and zeolites. In this volume, an interdisciplinary group of researchers report their developments in this field. Topics include statistical mechanical free energy theories which predict the appearance of various microstructures, the topological and geometrical methods needed for a mathematical description of the subparts and dividing surfaces of heterogeneous materials, and modern computer-aided mathematical models and graphics for effective exposition of the salient features of microstructured materials.

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Product Description: Book by Engel, Thomas, Reid, Philip

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Product Description: This book is devoted to a thorough analysis of the role that models play in the practise of physical theory. The authors, a mathematical physicist and a philosopher of science, appeal to the logicians’ notion of model theory as well as to the concepts of physicists.

Product Description: This book is devoted to a thorough analysis of the role that models play in the practise of physical theory. The authors, a mathematical physicist and a philosopher of science, appeal to the logicians? notion of model theory as well as to the concepts of physicists.