Properties of nonequilibrium steady states

当对系统做功并且由此产生的热被恒温机构吸收时，就会出现非平衡稳态(NESS)。系统进入稳定状态，其属性不再改变。几乎所有感兴趣的实验系统都处于非平衡状态，因此理解NESS具有重要意义。与时间稳定的平衡态不同，NESS中的微态分布不能用简单的封闭分布来描述。这个项目将使用为研究瞬时非平衡态而开发的概念和定理来确定Ness的性质、对称性和极值，并将确定是否可以开发出相空间分布的近似的、物理上相关的形式。

A nonequilibrium steady state (NESS) occurs when work is performed on a system and the heat so generated is absorbed by a thermostatting mechanism. The system settles into steady state and its properties no longer change. Almost all experimental systems of interest are in a nonequilibrium state, so understanding NESSs is highly significant. Unlike time stationary equilibrium states, the distribution of microstates in a NESS cannot be described by simple closed form distributions. This project will determine properties, symmetries and extrema of NESS using concepts and theorems developed for studying transient nonequilibrium states, and will also determine if approximate, physically relevant forms of the phase space distributions can be developed.