The Maximum Entropy Production Principle: Its Theoretical Foundations and Applications to the Earth System

The Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle has been remarkably successful in producing accurate predictions for non-equilibrium states. We argue that this is because the MEP principle is an effective inference procedure that produces the best predictions from the available information. Since all...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEntropy (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 613 - 630
Main Authors Dyke, James, Kleidon, Axel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2010
Subjects
Bayesian inference
Earth System Modelling
entropy production
non-equilibrium statistical mechanics
thermodynamics
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle has been remarkably successful in producing accurate predictions for non-equilibrium states. We argue that this is because the MEP principle is an effective inference procedure that produces the best predictions from the available information. Since all Earth system processes are subject to the conservation of energy, mass and momentum, we argue that in practical terms the MEP principle should be applied to Earth system processes in terms of the already established framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, with the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium at the appropriate scales.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:1099-4300
1099-4300
DOI:10.3390/e12030613