Thermodynamics of stationary states

Abstract

In the study of nonequilibrium phenomena, improving on near-equilibrium linear approximations has long been a major goal. Over the past ten years, in collaboration with Bertini, De Sole, Gabrielli and Landim, we developed a general approach to nonequilibrium diffusive systems known as Macroscopic Fluctuation Theory, making some progress in this direction. Our theory has been inspired by stochastic models of interacting particles (stochastic lattice gases). It is based on the study of rare fluctuations of macroscopic variables in stationary states and leads to interesting new results and predictions. This paper gives a compact presentation of the theory with some applications.