Search results for "Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics"
showing 10 items of 122 documents
Toward a thermodynamic description of supercontinuum generation
2008
International audience; We consider the incoherent nonlinear regime of the supercontinuum generation process in optical fibers. We show that, under certain conditions, the phenomenon of spectral broadening inherent to the supercontinuum generation may be described by simple thermodynamic arguments based on the kinetic wave theory. Accordingly, the supercontinuum generation process may be regarded as a thermalization process, which is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the optical field toward a thermodynamic equilibrium state, i.e., the state of maximum nonequilibrium entropy.
Spontaneous polarization induced by natural thermalization of incoherent light
2008
We analyze theoretically the polarization properties of a partially coherent optical field that propagates in a nonlinear Kerr medium. We consider the standard model of two resonantly coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations, which account for a wave-vector mismatch between the orthogonal polarization components. We show that such a phase-mismatch is responsible for the existence of a spontaneous repolarization process of the partially incoherent optical field during its nonlinear propagation. The repolarization process is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the unpolarized beam towards a highly polarized state, without any loss of energy. This unexpected result contrasts with the …
Non-equilibrium temperature of well-developed quantum turbulence
2009
Abstract A non-equilibrium effective temperature of quantum vortex tangles is defined as the average energy of closed vortex loops. The resulting thermodynamic expressions for the entropy and the energy in terms of the temperature of the tangle are confirmed by a microscopic analysis based on a potential distribution function for the length of vortex loops. Furthermore, these expressions for the entropy and energy in terms of temperature are analogous to those of black holes: this may be of interest for establishing further connections between topological defects in superfluids and cosmology.
Thermodynamic pressure in nonlinear nonequilibrium thermodynamics of dilute nonviscous gases.
2000
In this paper, using extended thermodynamics, we build up a nonlinear theory for a dilute nonviscous gas under heat flux. The fundamental fields are the density, the velocity, the internal energy density, and the heat flux. The constitutive theory is builtup without approximations. We single out the nonlinear complete expressions of the Gibbs equation and of the nonequilibrium pressure. In particular, we determine the complete expressions furnished by the theory for the nonequilibrium pressure tensor and thermodynamic pressure, i.e., the derivative of the nonequilibrium internal specific entropy with respect to the specific volume, times the nonequilibrium temperature. In a second-order app…
Thermodynamics of Electrochemical Systems
2004
A discussion of the fundamentals of thermodynamic theory describing electrochemical systems is presented. The basic relationships are deduced as properties of the electrochemical potential. The theory introduces an observable electric potential that is defined at every position within the electrochemical system as the potential of a reversible electrode placed there. To provide a good test of the formalism, five systems have been studied including equilibrium and nonequilibrium. The formalism emphasizes the advantages of the electric current density in order to characterize one of the degrees of irreversibility and the electrical equilibrium. Finally, the electrostatic potential is discusse…
Fluctuation theorems for non-Markovian quantum processes
2013
Exploiting previous results on Markovian dynamics and fluctuation theorems, we study the consequences of memory effects on single realizations of nonequilibrium processes within an open system approach. The entropy production along single trajectories for forward and backward processes is obtained with the help of a recently proposed classical-like non-Markovian stochastic unravelling, which is demonstrated to lead to a correction of the standard entropic fluctuation theorem. This correction is interpreted as resulting from the interplay between the information extracted from the system through measurements and the flow of information from the environment to the open system: Due to memory e…
Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics of Unsteady Superfluid Turbulence in Counterflow and Rotating Situations
2005
The methods of nonequilibrium thermodynamics are used in this paper to relate an evolution equation for the vortex line density $L$, describing superfluid turbulence in the simultaneous presence of counterflow and rotation, to an evolution equation for the superfluid velocity ${\mathbf{v}}_{s}$, in order to be able to describe the full evolution of ${\mathbf{v}}_{s}$ and $L$, instead of only $L$. Two alternative possibilities are analyzed, related to two possible alternative interpretations of a term coupling the effects of the counterflow and rotation on the vortex tangle, and which imply some differences between situations where counterflow and rotation vectors are parallel or orthogonal …
Energy and temperature of superfluid turbulent vortex tangles
2007
We consider three aspects of turbulent vortex tangles in superfluids. First, we outline some contributions to the Vinen’s equation for the time evolution of the vortex line density, related to the presence of pinned vortices incorporating the effects of the walls. Afterwards, we analyze some aspects of the energy balance of the vortex tangle, related to frictional dissipation and to vortex formation and destruction. Finally, we explore the concept of an effective temperature for the vortex tangle, related to the average energy of the vortex loops and to the diffusion coefficient of vortex lines. The combination of these ideas suggests some formal similarities with other kinds of driven none…
Nonequilibrium critical scaling in quantum thermodynamics
2016
The emerging field of quantum thermodynamics is contributing important results and insights into archetypal many-body problems, including quantum phase transitions. Still, the question whether out-of-equilibrium quantities, such as fluctuations of work, exhibit critical scaling after a sudden quench in a closed system has remained elusive. Here, we take a novel approach to the problem by studying a quench across an impurity quantum critical point. By performing density matrix renormalization group computations on the two-impurity Kondo model, we are able to establish that the irreversible work produced in a quench exhibits finite-size scaling at quantum criticality. This scaling faithfully …
Determination of the stress distribution at the interface metal-oxide: Numerical and theoretical considerations
2005
In this paper we give a brief presentation of the approaches we have recently developed on the oxidation of metals. Firstly, we present an analytical model based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics to describe the reaction kinetics present during the oxidation of a metal. Secondly, we present the molecular dynamics results obtained with a code specially tailored to study the oxidation and growth of an oxide film of aluminium. Our simulations present an excellent agreement with experimental results.