Weakly nonlocal irreversible thermodynamics

Abstract

Weakly nonlocal thermodynamic theories are critically revisited. A relocalized, irreversible thermodynamic theory of nonlocal phenomena is given, based on a modified form of the entropy current and new kind of internal variables, the so called current multipliers. The treatment is restricted to deal with nonlocality connected to dynamic thermodynamic variables. Several classical equations are derived, including Guyer-Krumhansl, Ginzburg-Landau and Cahn-Hilliard type equations.Comment: 30 pages, no figure