This chapter was written by Roderick C. Dewar and Amos Maritan and published in 2014. The abstract states what follows. Maximum entropy production (MaxEP) is a conjectured selection criterion for the stationary states of non-equilibrium systems. In the absence of a firm theoretical basis, MaxEP has largely been applied in an ad hoc manner. Consequently its apparent successes remain something of a curiosity while the interpretation of its apparent failures is fraught with ambiguity. Here we show how Jaynes’ maximum entropy (MaxEnt) formulation of statistical mechanics provides a theoretical basis for MaxEP which answers two outstanding questions that have so far hampered its wider application: What do the apparent successes and failures of MaxEP actually mean physically? And what is the appropriate entropy production that is maximized in any given problem? As illustrative examples, we show how MaxEnt underpins previous applications of MaxEP to planetary climates and fluid turbulence. We also discuss the relationship of MaxEP to the fluctuation theorem and Ziegler’s maximum dissipation principle.
Roderick C. Dewar and Amos Maritan. 2014. A Theoretical Basis for Maximum Entropy Production. In Dewar, Roderick C.; Lineweaver, Charles H.; Niven, Robert K.; Regenauer-Lieb, Klaus edited, Beyond the Second Law: Entropy Production and Non-equilibrium Systems (Understanding Complex Systems). Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.
Roderick C. Dewar and Amos Maritan
