Changes in reference frame with respect to barycentric velocity in isothermal diffusion: Duality between reference flows and potentials in mechanical equilibrium

Abstract

Using a topological representation of mechanical equilibrium as applied to isothermal diffusion it is shown that the barycentric velocity, which serves as a reference in the definition of diffusional flows, can be replaced by an arbitrary velocity. This result is a stronger form of a theorem originally proved by Prigogine which requires that mechanical equilibrium and the Gibbs–Duhem relations be obeyed. In its present form, the result follows from the topological duality between forces and flows when mechanical equilibrium holds.