Nonequilibrium Process

in thermodynamics and statistical physics, a physical process in which a nonequilibrium state exists. Examples of nonequilibrium processes are (1) a process in which (thermodynamic or statistical) equilibrium is established in a system that was previously in a nonequilibrium state and (2) the transition of a system from an equilibrium state into a nonequilibrium state or from one nonequilibrium state into another under the influence of external perturbations. In open systems, nonequilibrium processes may occur as steady-state processes (processes in which the physical state of the system remains constant), for example, heat transfer by heat conduction at a constant temperature difference. Nonequilibrium processes are always irreversible processes, and such processes lead to an increase in entropy.

References in periodicals archive ?

Because of these large current densities, electrical transport in nanoscale systems is usually a nonequilibrium process, and there is a large influence of electron-electron and electron-ion interactions.

The interaction of radio-frequency fields with dielectric materials at macroscopic to mesoscopic scales

Other subjects discussed include topological origins of the coupling constants hierarchy, semiclassical dynamics of black holes, black hole evaporation as a nonequilibrium process, and the dynamics of anisotropic universes.

Classical and quantum gravity research

Self-organization in complex adaptive systems unfolds, not as some equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium sequence but as a coherent nonequilibrium process with varying structural stability properties.

IS THERE A ROLE FOR TRANSACTION COST ECONOMICS IF WE VIEW FIRMS AS COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS?