Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Irreversibility and randomness

  • Published:
Astrophysics and Space Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Some recent development in the theory of irreversible processes and nonequilibrium thermodynamics are reviewed. At the macroscopic level, the concept of irreversibility as a source of order, as developed during the last decade, is presented in the context of nonequilibrium phase transitions and dissipative structures. Next, a stochastic theory of rate processes is introduced to study fluctuations, the mechanisms of instability and transition. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of quite recent results on the relation between the deterministic laws of dynamics and the probabilistic description of physical processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Clausius, R.: 1857,Ann. Phys. 100, 353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koschmieder, E. L.: 1973,Adv. Chem. Phys. 26, 177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefever, R., Nicolis, G. and Prigogine, I.: 1967,J. Chem. Phys. 47, 1045.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemarchand, H. and Nicolis, G.: 1976,Physica 82A, 521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malek-Mansour, M. and Nicolis, G.: 1975,Phys. Letters 89A, 326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Misra, B., Prigogine, I. and Courbage, M.: 1979, ‘From Deterministic Dynamics to Probabilistic Descriptions’ (submitted toPhysica).

  • Nicolis, G. and Prigogine, I.: 1977,Self-Organization in Nonequilibrium Systems, Wiley-Interscience New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Onsager, L.: 1931,Phys. Rev. 37, 405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Planck, M.: 1930,Vorlesungen über Thermodynamik, Leipzig, 1930; English translation, Dover, New York, 1945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I.: 1945,Bull. Acad. Roy. Belg. Cl. Sci. 31, 600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I.: 1967,Introduction to Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes, 3rd edn., Wiley-Interscience, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I.: 1980,From Being to Becoming Freeman Press, San Francisco (to appear).

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I. and Nicolis, G.: 1967,J. Chem. Phys. 46, 3542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I. and Lefever, R.: 1968,J. Chem. Phys. 48, 1695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I., Lefever, R., Turner, J. S. and Turner, J. W.: 1975,Phys. Letters 51A, 317.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

    Ilya Prigogine

  2. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Ilya Prigogine

Authors
  1. Ilya Prigogine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Invited contribution to the Proceedings of a Workshop onThermodynamics and Kinetics of Dust Formation in the Space Medium held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 6–8 September, 1978. This contribution is an edited version of the lecture text, prepared by Jack S. Turner.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Prigogine, I. Irreversibility and randomness. Astrophys Space Sci 65, 371–381 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00648502

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00648502

Keywords

Search

Navigation