Thermodynamics of irreversible processes (TIP)

Abstract

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is an extensive and successful field which, however, is not the subject of this book. Here we merely review — in the briefest possible manner — the Eckart theory which provides us with an explicit expression for the dissipative entropy source in a viscous, heatconducting fluid. We need this in Chap. 18 for an estimate of dissipation in the context of the entropy increase of radiation. And once we have that expression, we use it to disprove the “principle of minimum entropy production”, a popular misconception in irreversible thermodynamics.