IWNET12
IWNET12
A mesoscopic description of reactions far from equilibrium
J. M. Rubi1
1 University of Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
Chemical cycle kinetics is customarily analyzed by means of the law of mass action which provides a description
of the rates of transformation of the substances. The connection of this description with non-equilibrium
thermodynamics has traditionally been restricted to the linear domain in which reaction rates are proportional
to the thermodynamic forces, the a nities. We show, by a pertinent analysis of the second law, that the
connection between both approaches is deeper than thought as also holds in the nonlinear domain, for higher
values of the a nities. This new perspective shows how to overcome the inherent limitation of classical non-
equilibrium thermodynamics in treating cyclic reactions, providing a description of free energy transduction
processes in chemical and bio-chemical closed and open cycles by means of thermodynamic principles.
E-mail: mglrb2@gmail.com