ON VECTOR FLUXES AND FORCES IN IRREVERSIBLE THERMODYNAMICS

Vector f l u x e s and forces are expanded in terms of three basic vector

fields, and a fundamental family of ellipsoids for irreversible thermo-
dynsmics is introduced. The connection between this approach and the usual
formalism of irreversible thermodynamics is obtained.
Burman, Byrne and Buckingham /I/ have analyzed energy dissipation
resulting from "frictional" interactions of different species in plasmas.
The technique they introduced will be generalized here to apply to the
interaction of any vector fluxes and forces, and will then be related to
the usual formalism of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes.
Let there be N vector fluxes Jr with corresponding forces ~r- Since
in ordinary space no more than three vectors can be linearly independent,
the ~Jr and Er can be expressed as linear combinations of three basic
vector fields:

(I ,2) Jr = ~ Sri•i and Fr = Tri~d

In any particular application, the idea is to choose, so far as possible,

the ~i to be generalized currents of particular interest. For example, in
plasma physics one is likely to be less interested in the momentum den-
sities of the individual species than in current densities relating to
different types of diffusion processes, such as electric current flow and
ambipolar diffusion. Thus the M~i will be, in general, non-orthogonal.
The rate ~ of decrease of internal energy associated with the inter-
action of the ~r and Fr, namely

r=~l Jr.Fr, can be written ~-- K(ij) M i. •j where

= i=l =
N
(3) Kij ~ -~-- Sri Trj ;
r=l
round and square brackets around indices will denote symmetric and skew
parts: Choose the M i so that K(ij)is diagonal:

(4) K(ij ) = @[i Si j .

The ~i represent nine quantities, three of which are mere normalization

parameters, while (4) represents three conditions; thus three parameters
remain free.'Hence, for example, M 1 can be chosen arbitrarily, together
with the angle between ~I and ~2."Because of (4), ~ is reduced to a sum
of three squared terms:

= ~ Mi2/@ i
A
i=l /%
Write ~i=Mi~i where the ~i are non-orthogonal unit vectors. Let M~,
M 2 and M~ label the axes of a rectangular cartesian coordinate system in
a three-dimensional space. Associated with any set of vector fluxes and
forces, there is a fundamental family of ellipsoids, with equations
D

@~ = ~ Mi2/@i , in this M 1 -M 2 -M 3 space.

i=l
If K[i-lvanishes
, J J then it follows from (2), (3) and (4) that
N
S 9 F r = Mi/@i: if suitable expressions are known for the 2r, then
r= 1 rl

Czech.J.Phys.B27(1977) 951
taking linear combinations of them gives expressions for Mi, analogous to
generalized Ohm laws /I/.
The above has generalized the technique introduced by Burman, Byrne
and Buckingham /i/ in plasma physics. Now some further development, relat-
ing the technique more closely to the standard formalism of the thermodyn-
amics of irreversible processes, will be given.
Equations (i) and (2) can be written in matrix form as J=SM and F=TM
where J and F are Nx~ matrices, S and T are Nx3 and M is 3x~; the el-
ements of J, F and M are three-vectors while the elements of S and T are
scalars. In the standard formalism, the Jr and ~Fr are related by J=LF
where L is an NxN matrix whose elements ~re, in general, second-rank three-
-tensors. The question now is: What is the relationship of L to S and T?
Since F=L "I SM, it follows that F r can be expressed as
(L -1 S)rjMj ;
j=l
each of the three terms in this sum represents the contraction of a second-
-rank three-tensor with a three-vector, giving a three-vector, which can
he expressed as a linear combination of the ~i. Comparison with F=TM shows,
since the ~i are linearly independent, that S, T and L are related by

(5) T= L-I S ;

a bar will denote a matrix obtained from the corresponding us matrix

on replacing each element by the scalar product of that element and the
unit three-tensor.
The definition (3) can be written K=-sTT, where the superscript
denotes transposition. Hence (5) shows that
(6) K = -S T L -I S .

This shows that any symmetry properties of L -- namely the 0nsager_reci-

procity relations -- will be reflected directly in the 3x3 matrix K and
hence in K.
The technique discussed in general terms here was originally intro-
duced by Burman, Byrne and Buckingham /1/ in their treatment of energy dis-
sipation and the associated diffusion of magnetic field lines resulting
from "frictional" interactions in plasmas. The formalism has two purposes.
One is to elucidate the equations underlying the theory of dissipation; in
particular, Burman et al.obtained 8 form for generalized Ohm laws for non-
-relativistic plasmas, setting out the mathematical conditions needed to
reduce it to the familiar form. The other purpose is to obtain definite
results for physical quantities -- for example, electrical conductivities of
plasmas with several species; in particular, Byrne /2/ has used the for-
malism to obtain such results for fully ionized ternary plasmas that are
not necessarily neutral and for quaternary plasmas with two neutral species.
It is likely that similar applications could be made in other branches of
physics and in chemistry.
Received 3.12.1976.

R. Burman
Department of Physics,
The University of Western Australia,
Nedlands, W.A. 6009, Australia

References
/i/ Burman R.R., Byrne J.C., Buckingham M.J., Czech.J.Phys.B26 (1976),831.
/2/ Byrne J.C., Physica, in press.

952 Csech.J.Phye~B27(1977)