Abstract
We investigate the case of a dynamical system when irreversible time evolution is generated by a nonHermitian superoperator on the states of the system. We introduce a generalized scalar product which can be used to construct a monotonically changing functional of the state, a generalized entropy. This will depend on the level of system dynamics described by the evolution equation. In this paper we consider the special case when the irreversibility derives from imbedding the system of interest into a thermal reservoir. The ensuing time evolution is shown to be compatible both with equilibrium thermodynamics and the entropy production near the final steady state. In particular, Prigogine’s principle of minimum entropy production is discussed. Also the limit of zero temperature is considered. We present comments on earlier treatments.
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