Equilibrium Regained: From Nonequilibrium Chaos to Statistical Mechanics

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 bet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2000-01, Vol.287 (5450), p.101-104
Main Author: Egolf, David A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chaos theory
Classical chaos
Crystallites
Determinism
Dynamic range
Ecological balance
Ergodic theory
Exact sciences and technology
Material properties
Mathematics
Mechanics
Nonlinear Dynamics
Nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear dynamical systems
Nucleation
Numerical simulations of chaotic models
Physics
Statistical mechanics
Statistical physics, thermodynamics, and nonlinear dynamical systems
Statistics as Topic
Thermodynamics
Universality
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.287.5450.101