arXiv subjects

Giorgio Sonnino

Publications and source records attributed to Giorgio Sonnino.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Family of Probability Distributions Derived from Maximal Entropy Principle with Scale Invariant Restrictions

Using statistical thermodynamics, we derive a general expression of the stationary probability distribution for thermodynamic systems driven out of equilibrium by several thermodynamic forces. The local equilibrium is defined by imposing the minimum entropy production and the maximum entropy principle under the scale invariance restrictions. The obtained probability distribution presents a singularity that has immediate physical interpretation in terms of the intermittency models. The derived reference probability distribution function is interpreted as time and ensemble average of the real physical one. A generic family of stochastic processes describing noise-driven intermittency, whose stationary density distribution coincides exactly with the one resulted from entropy maximization, is presented.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

Rotation of Tokamak-Plasmas out of Mechanical Equilibria, in Absence of External Torques

Rotation of tokamak-plasmas, not at the mechanical equilibrium, is investigated utilizing a theorem of thermodynamics, established by Prigogine. This theorem, suitably applied to toroidally confined plasmas, suggests that the global barycentric rotations of the plasma, in the toroidal and poloidal directions, are pure reversible processes. In case of negligible viscosity and by supposing the validity of the balance equation for the internal forces, we show that the plasma, even not in the mechanical equilibrium, may freely rotate as a rigid body in the toroidal direction with an angular frequency with an angular frequency, which may be higher than the neoclassical estimation. In addition, its toroidal rotation may cause the plasma to rotate globally in the poloidal direction at a speed faster than the expression found by the neoclassical theory. The eventual configuration is attained when the toroidal and poloidal angular frequencies reaches the values that minimize dissipation.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2012

Comments on "Maximum or minimum entropy production ? How to select a necessary criterion of stability for a dissipative fluid or plasma"

In a recent paper, Phys. Rev E 81, 041137 (2010), the author attempts to derive ten necessary conditions for stability of dissipative fluids and plasmas. Assuming the validity of the local equilibrium principle, these criteria have been obtained solely from the first and the second laws of thermodynamics. The Onsager reciprocity relations have not been invoked and author's results are supposed to be valid independently of the choice of the boundary conditions. In the present paper, in agreement with the general theory established by Glansdorff-Prigogine in 1954 and 1970, we shall show that there is no variational principle expressing the necessary conditions for stability of dissipative systems involving convective effects when the system is out of the Onsager region. In particular, we shall prove that the basic equations constituting the starting point of the analysis of the author, attempting to derive ten necessary conditions for the stability involving magneto-hydrodynamical effects, are incorrect and in contradiction with the laws of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2011

Relaxation of Magnetically Confined Tokamak-Plasmas to Mechanical Equilibria

The relaxation of magnetically confined plasmas in a toroidal geometry is analyzed. From the equations for the Hermitian moments, we show how the system relaxes towards the mechanical equilibrium. In the space of the parallel generalized frictions, after fast transients, the evolution of collisional magnetically confined plasmas is such that the projections of the evolution equations for the parallel generalized frictions and the shortest path on the Hermitian moments coincide. For spatially-extended systems, a similar result is valid for the evolution of the {\it thermodynamic mode} (i.e., the mode with wave-number k = 0). The expression for the affine connection of the space covered by the generalized frictions, close to mechanical equilibria, is also obtained. The knowledge of the components of the affine connection is a fundamental prerequisite for the construction of the (nonlinear) closure theory on transport processes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Relaxation of Chemical Reactions to Stationary States in the Chemical Affinities Space

Using the mass balance equations for chemical reactions, we show how the system relaxes towards a steady state in and out of the Onsager region. In the chemical affinities space, after fast transients, the relaxation process is a straight line when operating in the Onsager region, while out of this regime, the evolution of the system is such that the projections of the evolution equations for the forces and the shortest path on the flows coincide. For spatially-extended systems, similar results are valid for the evolution of the thermodynamic mode (i.e., the mode with wave-number k = 0). These results allow us to obtain the expression for the affine connection of the space covered by the thermodynamic forces, close to the steady states. Through the affine connection, the nonlinear closure equations are derived.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2008

Thermodynamic Field Theory with the Iso-Entropic Formalism

A new formulation of the thermodynamic field theory (TFT) is presented. In this new version, one of the basic restriction in the old theory, namely a closed-form solution for the thermodynamic field strength, has been removed. In addition, the general covariance principle is replaced by Prigogine's thermodynamic covariance principle (TCP). The introduction of TCP required the application of an appropriate mathematical formalism, which has been referred to as the iso-entropic formalism. The validity of the Glansdorff-Prigogine Universal Criterion of Evolution, via geometrical arguments, is proven. A new set of thermodynamic field equations, able to determine the nonlinear corrections to the linear ("Onsager") transport coefficients, is also derived. The geometry of the thermodynamic space is non-Riemannian tending to be Riemannian for hight values of the entropy production. In this limit, we obtain again the same thermodynamic field equations found by the old theory. Applications of the theory, such as transport in magnetically confined plasmas, materials submitted to temperature and electric potential gradients or to unimolecular triangular chemical reactions can be found at references cited herein.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Nonlinear Transport Processes in Tokamak Plasmas. Part I: The Collisional Regimes

An application of the thermodynamic field theory (TFT) to transport processes in L-mode tokamak plasmas is presented. The nonlinear corrections to the linear (Onsager) transport coefficients in the collisional regimes are derived. A quite encouraging result is the appearance of an asymmetry between the Pfirsch-Schlueter (P-S) ion and electron transport coefficients: the latter presents a nonlinear correction, which is absent for the ions, and makes the radial electron coefficients much larger than the former. Explicit calculations and comparisons between the neoclassical results and the TFT predictions for JET plasmas are also reported. We found that the nonlinear electron P-S transport coefficients exceed the values provided by neoclassical theory by a factor, which may be of the order 100. The nonlinear classical coefficients exceed the neoclassical ones by a factor, which may be of order 2. The expressions of the ion transport coefficients, determined by the neoclassical theory in these two regimes, remain unaltered. The low-collisional regimes i.e., the plateau and the banana regimes, are analyzed in the second part of this work.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2007

Minimum Rate of Dissipation Principle and Linear Corrections to the Onsager Matrix

The Minimum Rate of Dissipation Principle (MRDP) affirms that, for time-independent boundary conditions, a thermodynamic system evolves towards a steady-state with the least possible dissipation. In this note, examples of diffusion processes of two solutes in an isothermal system are analyzed in detail. In particular, we consider the relaxation of the system when the metric tensor (i.e. the Onsager matrix) is constant and when the Onsager coefficients weakly depend on the spatial derivatives of the concentrations. We show that, to leading order, during the relaxation towards a steady-state, the system traces out a geodesic in the space of thermodynamic configurations, in accordance with the MRDP.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Geometrical Thermodynamic Field Theory

A manifestly covariant, coordinate independent reformulation of the Thermodynamic Field Theory (TFT) is presented. The TFT is a covariant field theory that describes the evolution of a thermodynamic system, extending the near-equilibrium theory established by Prigogine in 1954. We introduce the {\it Minimum Dissipation Principle}, which is conjectured to apply to any system relaxing towards a steady-state. We also derive the thermodynamic field equations, which in the case of alpha-alpha and beta-beta processes have already appeared in the literature. In more general cases the equations are notably simpler than those previously encountered and they are conjectured to hold beyond the weak-field regime. Finally we derive the equations that determine the steady-states as well as the critical values of the control parameters beyond which a steady-state becomes unstable.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗