After decades of research by various branches in nonequilibrium thermodynamics, a new methodology has been established which can be used to construct and improve evolution equations of continua and fields. This method is universal in the sense that it does not require detailed knowledge of the material structure. Moreover, recent applications of the methodology have yielded uniform insight into phenomena such as gravity and quantum mechanics. In the case of ideal, non-dissipative continua, the method is compatible with variational principles, and is predictive as a systematic way to construct material models. Furthermore, the method also leads to the emergence of properties such as classical holography as a consequence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Consequently, nonequilibrium thermodynamics developed a systematic gradient expansion, which was constructed to be compatible with thermodynamic principles. Moreover, as thermodynamics in general, it is originated in our technological experience in the broadest sense, being a constitutive theory of modelling universal material properties. This method is promising also from a technological point of view. This offers a systematic way to improve the fundamental theoretical background of engineering practice, including the Fourier equation of heat conduction, elasticity or fluid mechanics. The proposed research, in particular its dissipative aspects and the experimental part, is connected to higher grade fluids and solids and to generalised heat conduction.
The objective of this research is to refine and extend the method, understand the implications, predict new phenomena, and establish control points and benchmarks. The particular aspect of the proposed research is the experimental verification. Therefore, the following interdependent research directions (Work Packages) are suggested:
Nonequilibrium thermodynamics is the method to characterise material properties in a way that is compatible with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This is a systematic approach to modelling memory and nonlocal effects. This is the theory of material engineering. Heat conduction, rheology, higher-grade fluids and solids are the areas where the various methods are best compared to each other and the experiments. Consequenctly, WP1, the nonrelativistic part of the research, is where one should find criteria for fair comparison. A theoretical benchmark of feasibility of the material models is the fundamental dynamic stability of the thermodynamic equilibrium of the evolution equations.
A general metatheory of dissipation must be valid at the marginal case of ideal materials and evolution equations. The appearance of functional derivatives without variational principles, the classical holographic property and the emergence of quantum phenomena are unexpected general consequences of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We will predict, model and validate new phenomena in the fields of gravity, quantum physics and fluid mechanics.
The hypothesis that physical quantities of mechanics, such as position and momentum, can be thermodynamic state variables is a key to understanding the role of thermodynamics in the evolution equations of mechanics. The application of this idea to classical mechanics leads to an unexpected dissipative extension of the Newton equation of motion. This is one of the predicted genuine new phenomena, that we may call the dissipative momentum effect. The objective of this work package is to construct a torsion balance based experiment and validate the prediction.
The three work packages are interrelated. The outcome of the experiment (WP3) will be considered both in the material theory (WP1) and in the fields of fundamental physics (WP2). The results of fundamental physics influence the material models, which in turn serve as the testing ground of predictive changes in the evolution equations. This allows for the exploitation of the holistic nature of the universal thermodynamic framework.