2010-03-31
10:15 at HCI J 574

Thermodynamics of non-equilibrium steady states

Dina Obeid

Brown University

From investigating the motion of a Brownian particle under the influence of a non-conservative force, an attempt is made to construct a thermodynamic theory of non-equilibrium steady states as a formal extension of equilibrium theory. In looking for a phenomenological theory that describes the interplay between heat and mechanical work that takes place during operations in which a system transitions between non-equilibrium steady states one finds that there is no systematic way within a phenomenological formulation to determine the work done by the system during such operations. The above work shows that the attempt to build a thermodynamics theory of non-equilibrium steady states in analogy to the equilibrium theory has limited prospect of success and that the pursuit of such as theory should be directed elsewhere.