Nonequilibrium thermodynamics

The application of thermodynamics to non-equilibrium systems is by no means obvious. Therefore, it is not surprising that there have been a number of theoretical developments following various approaches to deal with such systems: Classical nonequilibrium thermodynamics with internal variables, Lagrangian methods, bracket formulations, continuum or rational thermodynamics, variational formulations, extended irreversible thermodynamics, the matrix model, network thermodynamics, the GENERIC formalism and finite-time thermodynamics. To bring together and unify this variety of approaches and to achieve a common framework, suited for applications, a series of workshops has been initiated in 1996 to discuss this matter.

Series of International Workshops on Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics (IWNET)

First workshop: Montreal, 1996

• Organizer: Miroslav Grmela
• Focus: Interrelationships between various approaches
• Workshop report: JNNFM 69 (1997) 105-107
• Satellite meeting of the 12th International Congress on Rheology in Quebec City

Second workshop: Oxford, 2000

• Organizer: Hans Christian Öttinger
• Focus: Fundamentals of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, including a summer school
  
• Website: IWNET 2000
• Proceedings: JNNFM 96 (2001), Editorial
  
• Satellite meeting of the 13th International Congress on Rheology in Cambridge, EURORHEO 2000-1
  

Third workshop: Princeton, 2003

• Organizers: Antony N. Beris and Brian J. Edwards
  
• Focus: Specific applications of nonequilibrium thermodynamics
  
• Proceedings: JNNFM 120 (2004), Editorial
• EURORHEO 2003-1

Fourth workshop: Rhodes, 2006

• Organizer: Vlasis G. Mavrantzas
• Focus: Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and simulations
• Website: IWNET 2006
• Workshop report: Appl. Rheol. 17 (2007) 104-106
• Proceedings: JNNFM 152 (2008), Editorial

Fifth workshop: Cuernavaca, 2009

• Organizers: Mariano López de Haro and Federico Vázquez Hurtado
• Focus: Small and confined systems, granular matter, interfacial phenomena and biological systems
• Website: IWNET 2009
• Workshop report: Appl. Rheol. 20 (2010) 54
• Proceedings: JNNFM 165 (2010), Editorial

Sixth workshop: Røros, 2012

• Organizers: Dick Bedeaux and Signe Kjelstrup
• Website: IWNET 2012
• Location: Røros Hotel