An up-to-date, coherent and balanced account of the study of entropy production in non-equilibrium systems
With particular emphasis on the theoretical basis of MaxEP, its relation to other non-equilibrium principles such as Minimum Entropy Production and the Fluctuation Theorem, and its many applications to diverse fields that include cosmology, Earth system science, climatology, fluid mechanics, biological function and evolution
Written by world-leading experts from diverse disciplines
The Second Law, a cornerstone of thermodynamics, governs the average direction of dissipative, non-equilibrium processes. But it says nothing about their actual rates or the probability of fluctuations about the average. This interdisciplinary book, written and peer-reviewed by international experts, presents recent advances in the search for new non-equilibrium principles beyond the Second Law, and their applications to a wide range of systems across physics, chemistry and biology. Beyond The Second Law brings together traditionally isolated areas of non-equilibrium research and highlights potentially fruitful connections between them, with entropy production playing the unifying role. Key theoretical concepts include the Maximum Entropy Production principle, the Fluctuation Theorem, and the Maximum Entropy method of statistical inference. Applications of these principles are illustrated in such diverse fields as climatology, cosmology, crystal growth morphology, Earth system science, environmental physics, evolutionary biology and technology, fluid turbulence, microbial biogeochemistry, plasma physics, and radiative transport, using a wide variety of analytical and experimental techniques. Beyond The Second Law will appeal to students and researchers wishing to gain an understanding of entropy production and its central place in the science of non-equilibrium systems – both in detail and in terms of the bigger picture.
Editors and Affiliations
Australian National University, Research School of Biology, Canberra, Australia
Roderick C. Dewar
Australian National University, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia
Charles H. Lineweaver
School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales at ADFA, Canberra, Australia
Robert K. Niven
School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering, Crawley, Australia
Klaus Regenauer-Lieb
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Beyond the Second Law
Book Subtitle: Entropy Production and Non-equilibrium Systems
Editors: Roderick C. Dewar, Charles H. Lineweaver, Robert K. Niven, Klaus Regenauer-Lieb