The purpose of this dissertation is to present a generalization of the current theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The current theory was presented in 1953 by Onsager and Machlup, its mathematical context goes back to the 1930 paper of Uhlenbeck and Ornstein on Brownian motion, and the physical foundations for that approach go back to the initial theoretical work on Brownian motion done by Einstein in 1905 and by Langevin in 1908. It will be demonstrated how the ideas presented by these men lead in a natural way to a generalization of the current theory. It will then be shown how the generalized theory extends the domain of applicability of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this dissertation is to present a generalization of the current theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The current theory was presented in 1953 by Onsager and Machlup, its mathematical context goes back to the 1930 paper of Uhlenbeck and Ornstein on Brownian motion, and the physical foundations for that approach go back to the initial theoretical work on Brownian motion done by Einstein in 1905 and by Langevin in 1908. It will be demonstrated how the ideas presented by these men lead in a natural way to a generalization of the current theory. It will then be shown how the generalized theory extends the domain of applicability of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Fox, Ronald Forrest"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["George Uhlenbeck"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1969,"date_issued":"1969-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1969-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:11:05Z","subjects":["non-equilibrium thermodynamics","Onsager-Machlup theory","Brownian motion","generalized theory","statistical mechanics","Langevin dynamics","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/student_theses_and_dissertations/565","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["George Uhlenbeck"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Fox, Ronald Forrest"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["non-equilibrium thermodynamics","Onsager-Machlup theory","Brownian motion","generalized theory","statistical mechanics","Langevin dynamics","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/student_theses_and_dissertations/565"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this dissertation is to present a generalization of the current theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The current theory was presented in 1953 by Onsager and Machlup, its mathematical context goes back to the 1930 paper of Uhlenbeck and Ornstein on Brownian motion, and the physical foundations for that approach go back to the initial theoretical work on Brownian motion done by Einstein in 1905 and by Langevin in 1908. It will be demonstrated how the ideas presented by these men lead in a natural way to a generalization of the current theory. It will then be shown how the generalized theory extends the domain of applicability of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Contributions to the Theory of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["George Uhlenbeck"],"dc:creator":["Fox, Ronald Forrest"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this dissertation is to present a generalization of the current theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The current theory was presented in 1953 by Onsager and Machlup, its mathematical context goes back to the 1930 paper of Uhlenbeck and Ornstein on Brownian motion, and the physical foundations for that approach go back to the initial theoretical work on Brownian motion done by Einstein in 1905 and by Langevin in 1908. It will be demonstrated how the ideas presented by these men lead in a natural way to a generalization of the current theory. It will then be shown how the generalized theory extends the domain of applicability of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/student_theses_and_dissertations/565"],"dc:subject":["non-equilibrium thermodynamics","Onsager-Machlup theory","Brownian motion","generalized theory","statistical mechanics","Langevin dynamics","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"],"dc:title":["Contributions to the Theory of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:11:05Z"}