Non-equilibrium thermodynamics

law of physics stating that systems spontaneously evolve towards states of higher entropy

lowest possible energy of a quantum system or field

thermodynamically open system which is operating out of, and often far from, thermodynamic equilibrium in an environment with which it exchanges energy and matter

thumb|3D representation of a living cell during the process of mitosis, example of an autopoietic system

one-way direction, or asymmetry, of time

In thermodynamics, dissipation is the result of an irreversible process that affects a thermodynamic system. In a dissipative process, energy (internal, bulk flow kinetic, or system potential) transforms from an initial form to a final form, where the capacity of the final form to do thermodynamic work is less than that of the initial form. For example, transfer of energy as heat is dissipative because it is a transfer of energy other than by thermodynamic work or by transfer of matter, and spreads previously concentrated energy. Following the second law of thermodynamics, in conduction and ra

one of a class of reactions that serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical oscillator

branch of thermodynamics

quantum system whose ground state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion

thumb|Dust deposition by thermophoresis. Thermophoresis (also thermomigration, thermodiffusion, the Soret effect, or the Ludwig–Soret effect) is a phenomenon observed in mixtures of mobile particles where the different particle types exhibit different responses to the force of a temperature gradient. This phenomenon tends to move light molecules to hot regions and heavy molecules to cold regions. The term thermophoresis most often applies to aerosol mixtures whose mean free path \lambda is comparable to its characteristic length scale L, but may also commonly refer to the phenomenon in all pha

equality of certain ratios between flows and forces in thermodynamic systems out of equilibrium

In classical statistical mechanics, the ' H-theorem', introduced by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1872, describes the tendency of the quantity H (defined below) to decrease in a nearly-ideal gas of molecules. As this quantity H was meant to represent the entropy of thermodynamics, the H-theorem was an early demonstration of the power of statistical mechanics as it claimed to derive the second law of thermodynamics—a statement about fundamentally irreversible processes—from reversible microscopic mechanics. It is thought to prove the second law of thermodynamics, albeit under the assumption of low-entrop

oscillating chemical reaction of white, yellow and blue

study of quantum-mechanical thermodynamic systems and processes

theorem

in physics, the apparent contradiction that time-irreversible macrophysics arises from time-symmetric microphysics

reaction that changes observably after a time

set of equations describing the dynamics of a system of many interacting particles

term

family of several different effects that occur in heterogeneous fluids, or in porous bodies filled with fluid, or in a fast flow over a flat surface

thumb|right|350px|Top: The Brusselator in the unstable regime (A=1, B=3): The system approaches a limit cycle Bottom: The Brusselator in a stable regime with A=1 and B=1.7: For B2 the system is stable and approaches a fixed point.

partial differential equation describing the time evolution of plasma

theorem

measure of performance of heat engines

non-equilibrium chemical reaction in which concentrations of components oscillate

equation relating transport coefficients to correlation functions

thumb|alt=Limit cycle oscillation of Oregonator|Limit cycle oscillation of Oregonator The Oregonator is a theoretical model for a type of autocatalytic reaction. The Oregonator is the simplest realistic model of the chemical dynamics of the oscillatory Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction. It was created by Richard Field and Richard M. Noyes at the University of Oregon. It is a portmanteau of Oregon and oscillator.

occurs when dispersed particles move under the influence of either gravity or centrifugation in a medium

equation in statistical mechanics that relates free energy differences between two states and the irreversible work along an ensemble of trajectories joining the same states