This book stresses the role of uncorrelated exchange of properties between macroscopic systems and their surroundings as the only source of dynamic irreversibility. To that end, fundamentals of statistical thermodynamics extended to the non-equilibrium are worked out carefully. The principles are then applied to selected problems in classical fluid dynamics. Transport coefficients are first derived from basic laws. This is followed by a full discussion of transitions to dissipative structures in selected systems far removed from equilibrium (Bénard and Taylor vortices, calculation of the critical Reynolds number for transition to turbulence in Poiseuille flow). The final part focuses on interaction of matter with light. Fundamentals are extended towards quantum-mechanical systems. Applied to coherent radiation and its interaction with matter, the proposed thermodynamic treatment introduces an original discussion into the quantum nature of micro-physics.The book questions and reconsiders a deeply rooted paradigm in macroscopic dynamics concerning the cause of irreversibility. The new proposal is illustrated by application to a couple of well documented non-equilibrium domains, namely fluid dynamics and laser physics.

In this book, fifteen authors from a wide spectrum of disciplines (ranging from the natural sciences to the arts) offer assessments of the way time enters their work, the definition and uses of time that have proved most productive or problematic, and the lessons their subjects can offer for our understanding of time beyond the classroom and laboratory walls. The authors have tried, without sacrificing analytical rigour, to make their contribution accessible to a cross-disciplinary readership. Each chapter reviews time's past and present application in its respective field, considers the practical and logical problems that remain, and assesses the methods researchers are using to escape or resolve them. Particular attention is paid to ways in which the technical treatment of time, for problem-solving and model-building around specific phenomena, call on - or clash with - our intuitive perceptions of what time is and does. The spans of time considered range from the fractions of seconds it takes unstable particles to disintegrate to the millions of years required for one species to give way to another. Like all central conceptual words, time is understood on several levels. By inviting input from a broad range of disciplines, the book aims to provide a fuller understanding of those levels, and of the common ground that lurks at their base. Much agreement emerges - not only on the nature of the problems time presents to modern intellectual thought, but also on the clues that recent discoveries may offer towards possible solutions.

Provides a clear and systematic description of the key role played by catalyst reactant dynamism including: (i) the fundamental processes at work, (ii) the origin of its general and physical features, (iii) the way it has evolved, and (iv) how it relates to catalysis in man-made systems. Unifies homogeneous, heterogeneous, and enzymatic catalysis into a single, conceptually coherent whole. Describes how to authentically mimic the underlying principles of enzymatic catalysis in man-made systems. Examines the origin and role of complexity and complex Systems Science in catalysis--very hot topics in science today.

Groundbreaking monograph by Nobel Prize winner for researchers and graduate students covers Liouville equation, anharmonic solids, Brownian motion, weakly coupled gases, scattering theory and short-range forces, general kinetic equations, more. 1962 edition.