Nambu Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and the Lyapunov Structure of Open Systems
In open nonequilibrium systems, the thermodynamic entropy of a subsystem is not generally a Lyapunov function. Even during relaxation toward equilibrium, it may decrease temporarily because of exchanges with external reservoirs. This raises a basic question: what thermodynamic quantity, if any, organizes irreversible relaxation in an open system? We address this question using an explicit open-piston model coupled to both a pressure reservoir and a heat bath. The reversible sector is formulated as a Nambu rotational flow generated by the extended energy and the subsystem entropy, while the irreversible sector is written as a gradient flow generated by a dissipation potential $S_{NB}$. In the adiabatic reversible limit, the Nambu bracket produces the oscillatory piston motion on the intersection of conserved level surfaces. After coupling to a heat bath and adding friction, the subsystem entropy $S$ can exhibit nonmonotonic oscillations, whereas $S_{NB}=S-H_{1}/T_{b}$ increases monotonically under the proposed positive-semidefinite dissipative structure. We show that this monotonicity is not a consequence of identifying $S_{NB}$ with thermodynamic entropy. Rather, it follows from two geometric conditions: the reversible Nambu flow preserves $S_{NB}$, and the irreversible dynamics can be written as a positive-semidefinite gradient flow generated by $S_{NB}$. The open-piston model therefore provides a minimal macroscopic realization in which thermodynamic entropy, dissipation potential, reversible temporal order, and irreversible relaxation can be separated explicitly.