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Main Author: Lakka, Sami
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.20648
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author Lakka, Sami
author_facet Lakka, Sami
contents We develop a geometric framework for irreversible transport phenomena in which macroscopic evolution equations arise from the combined structure of a thermodynamic state metric and an Onsager-based dissipation metric. The construction begins by defining a pseudo-Riemannian manifold from the Hessian of an appropriate thermodynamic potential. When the enthalpy is used and written in variables (S,P), the resulting metric possesses a Lorentzian-type signature: entropy acts as a time-like coordinate, while pressure forms a spatial-like coordinate associated with mechanical response. Local irreversible dynamics are incorporated through the inverse Onsager matrix, which defines a positive-definite dissipation metric on the space of fluxes and gradients. A thermodynamic action integrating these two geometric layers yields geodesic evolution equations. For a Newtonian fluid with constant viscosity, the resulting Euler--Lagrange equations reproduce the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations without requiring an externally imposed constitutive closure. Within this framework, turbulence scaling emerges from competition between inertial curvature and dissipation metric stiffness. The Kolmogorov length scale appears as a minimum geometric resolution length where these contributions balance, providing a geometric interpretation of energy cascade termination and dissipation onset. Finite-time singularities in the classical PDE formulation correspond to curvature divergences in the transport geometry; however, the thermodynamic proper time diverges in such limits, suggesting that blow-up is dynamically suppressed in single-phase continua. Although derived explicitly for fluid flow, the framework is general: by choosing different thermodynamic potentials and Onsager matrices, the same geometric formulation applies to heat conduction, diffusion and other irreversible processes.
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spellingShingle Entropy-Time Geodesics as a Universal Framework for Transport and Transition Phenomena
Lakka, Sami
Fluid Dynamics
We develop a geometric framework for irreversible transport phenomena in which macroscopic evolution equations arise from the combined structure of a thermodynamic state metric and an Onsager-based dissipation metric. The construction begins by defining a pseudo-Riemannian manifold from the Hessian of an appropriate thermodynamic potential. When the enthalpy is used and written in variables (S,P), the resulting metric possesses a Lorentzian-type signature: entropy acts as a time-like coordinate, while pressure forms a spatial-like coordinate associated with mechanical response. Local irreversible dynamics are incorporated through the inverse Onsager matrix, which defines a positive-definite dissipation metric on the space of fluxes and gradients. A thermodynamic action integrating these two geometric layers yields geodesic evolution equations. For a Newtonian fluid with constant viscosity, the resulting Euler--Lagrange equations reproduce the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations without requiring an externally imposed constitutive closure. Within this framework, turbulence scaling emerges from competition between inertial curvature and dissipation metric stiffness. The Kolmogorov length scale appears as a minimum geometric resolution length where these contributions balance, providing a geometric interpretation of energy cascade termination and dissipation onset. Finite-time singularities in the classical PDE formulation correspond to curvature divergences in the transport geometry; however, the thermodynamic proper time diverges in such limits, suggesting that blow-up is dynamically suppressed in single-phase continua. Although derived explicitly for fluid flow, the framework is general: by choosing different thermodynamic potentials and Onsager matrices, the same geometric formulation applies to heat conduction, diffusion and other irreversible processes.
title Entropy-Time Geodesics as a Universal Framework for Transport and Transition Phenomena
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.20648