Equilibrium regained: from nonequilibrium chaos to statistical mechanics

Science. 2000 Jan 7;287(5450):101-4. doi: 10.1126/science.287.5450.101.

Abstract

Far-from-equilibrium, spatially extended chaotic systems have generally eluded analytical solution, leading researchers to consider theories based on a statistical rather than a detailed knowledge of the microscopic length scales. Building on the recent discovery of a separation of length scales between macroscopic behavior and microscopic chaos, a simple far-from-equilibrium spatially extended chaotic system has been studied computationally at intermediate, coarse-grained scales. Equilibrium properties such as Gibbs distributions and detailed balance are recovered at these scales, which suggests that the macroscopic behavior of some far-from-equilibrium systems might be understood in terms of equilibrium statistical mechanics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Mathematics
  • Mechanics*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics*
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Thermodynamics