A general geometrical setting of nonequilibrium thermodynamics is developed. The approach is based on the notion of the natural projection which generalizes Ehrenfests' coarse-graining. It is demonstrated how derivations of irreversible macroscopic dynamics from the microscopic theories can be addressed through a study of stability of quasiequilibrium manifolds.

Abstract On the example of celebrated Grad’s 13-moment system kinetic theory rarefied gases and phonon hydrodynamics, it is proved that constitutive equations nonequilibrium thermodynamics must be nonlocal. A thermodynamic model Guyer–Krumhansl heat-transport equation derived within frame weakly nonlocal Rational Thermodynamics. The for entropy flux analyzed as well. Some nonlinear generalizati...

This last point, however, raises a serious question: how well does equilibrium thermodynamics really motivate our understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena? Is it reasonable for an organometallic chemist to analyze a catalytic cycle in terms of rate-law kinetics, or for a biochemist to treat the concentration of a solute in an organelle as a bulk mixture of compounds? Under many circum­ stances...