Stochastic dynamics, large deviation principle, and nonequilibrium thermodynamics

Geometric thermodynamics of strain-induced crystallization in polymers

Going beyond the classical Gaussian approximation of Einstein's fluctuation theory, Ruppeiner gave it a Riemannian geometric structure with an entropic metric. This yielded a fundamental quantity, the Riemannian curvature, which was used to extract information on the nature of interactions between molecules in fluids, ideal gases, and other open systems. In this article, we examine the implications of this curvature in a nonequilibrium thermodynamic system where relaxation is sufficiently slow so as not to invalidate the local equilibrium hypothesis. The nonequilibrium system comprises a rubbery polymer undergoing strain induced crystallization. The curvature is found to impart information on a spurious isochoric energy arising from the conformational stretching of already crystallized segments. This unphysical component perhaps arises as the crystallized manifold is considered Euclidean with the stretch measures defined via the Euclidean metric. The thermodynamic state associated with curvature is the key to determine the isochoric stretch and hence the spurious energy. We determine this stretch and propose a form for the spurious free energy that must be removed from the total energy in order for the correct stresses to be recovered.

Recent Advances in Conservation-Dissipation Formalism for Irreversible Processes

The main purpose of this review is to summarize the recent advances of the Conservation–Dissipation Formalism (CDF), a new way for constructing both thermodynamically compatible and mathematically stable and well-posed models for irreversible processes. The contents include but are not restricted to the CDF’s physical motivations, mathematical foundations, formulations of several classical models in mathematical physics from master equations and Fokker–Planck equations to Boltzmann equations and quasi-linear Maxwell equations, as well as novel applications in the fields of non-Fourier heat conduction, non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluids, wave propagation/transportation in geophysics and neural science, soft matter physics, etc. Connections with other popular theories in the field of non-equilibrium thermodynamics are examined too.