Nonequilibrium inhomogeneous processes. An alternative mesoscopic description

✍ Scribed by Frank G. Shi

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 475 KB
• Volume: 212
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2614
• DOI: 10.1016/0009-2614(93)87223-p

✦ Synopsis

It is demonstrated that there is an inconsistency between the master equation and its associated Fokker-Planck equation for the inhomogeneous process whose transition rates depend on the state variable. This inconsistency results from an unjustified assumption adopted since Planck in 19 17. An alternative to the Planck's assumption leads to the development of the first general mesoscopic framework applicable to any nonequilibrium Markov process that can be inhomogeneous and with any transition length. It is shown that even under the limit of small transition lengths, none of the previous relevant suggestions is appropriate.