Thermodynamic Variational Principle Unifying Gravity and Heat Flow
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866917169122508800 |
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| author | Nakagawa, Naoko Sasa, Shin-ichi |
| author_facet | Nakagawa, Naoko Sasa, Shin-ichi |
| contents | Predicting the stable phase configuration in a liquid-gas system becomes a fundamental challenge when the stratification favored by gravity conflicts with arrangements induced by heat flow, particularly because standard equilibrium thermodynamics is insufficient in such non-equilibrium steady states. We propose a variational principle based on an extended thermodynamics, called global thermodynamics, to address this state selection problem. Our key finding is that gravity and heat flow effects are unified into a single parameter, ``effective gravity'' ($g_\mathrm{eff}$), within this framework. Crucially, the sign of $g_\mathrm{eff}$ determines the stable configuration: liquid is at the bottom if $g_\mathrm{eff} > 0$, and floats above the gas if $g_\mathrm{eff} < 0$. This provides a quantitative tool for the configuration prediction under competing drives. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_10380 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Thermodynamic Variational Principle Unifying Gravity and Heat Flow Nakagawa, Naoko Sasa, Shin-ichi Statistical Mechanics Predicting the stable phase configuration in a liquid-gas system becomes a fundamental challenge when the stratification favored by gravity conflicts with arrangements induced by heat flow, particularly because standard equilibrium thermodynamics is insufficient in such non-equilibrium steady states. We propose a variational principle based on an extended thermodynamics, called global thermodynamics, to address this state selection problem. Our key finding is that gravity and heat flow effects are unified into a single parameter, ``effective gravity'' ($g_\mathrm{eff}$), within this framework. Crucially, the sign of $g_\mathrm{eff}$ determines the stable configuration: liquid is at the bottom if $g_\mathrm{eff} > 0$, and floats above the gas if $g_\mathrm{eff} < 0$. This provides a quantitative tool for the configuration prediction under competing drives. |
| title | Thermodynamic Variational Principle Unifying Gravity and Heat Flow |
| topic | Statistical Mechanics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.10380 |