Entropy Production in a DC Plasma Diode with a Fireball on the Anode

Le résumé fourni par la source

One of the consequences of driving a plasma discharge away from the thermodynamic equilibrium is the appearance of one or more fireballs in front of the anode. The formation of this self-organized space charge structure marks the transformation of part of the thermal energy of the electrical charges into the electric potential energy of the structure. The self-assembly of the fireball as well as its existence in a stable stationary state prove to be good candidates for testing the validity/selection of the proposed extremal (maximum or minimum) entropy production principles in the case of systems driven far from the thermodynamical equilibrium. The use of experimental results and of a basic mathematical model shows that the emergence of a fireball in a plasma diode maximizes the entropy production rate, while its subsequent existence minimizes the entropy production rate.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.