PHASE TRANSITIONS (Nonequilibrium)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2544 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
Instabilities that appear in a system driven far from thermodynamic equilibrium.
H. HAKEN states: “The nonequilibrium phase transitions of synergetic systems are much more varied that the phase transitions of systems in thermal equilibrium, and include oscillations, spatial structures and chaos” (1983, p.315). HAKEN also observes: “Destabilization of the former state in phase transitions is associated with intense fluctuations phenomena” (1984 — as retranslated for the Spanish translation from German!).
R. LEFEVER and I. PRIGOGINE illustrate this process using the BÉNARD instability “… a striking example of instability giving rise to spontaneous self-organization” (1986, p.2) and “chemical oscillations … to occur (through) auto- or cross-catalytic reactions” (Ibid, p.3). (As for example the BELOUSOV-ZHABOTINSKY reaction).
Still more interesting: “Non-equilibrium transitions have also been described in the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum” (p.4). This suggest that these transitions are important in all kinds of biological and social systems.
HAKEN went as far as to write: “ The phase transitions theory allows for the identification, in the mechanisms of revolutions, of many of the effects observed in the natural sciences” (1984 — retranslated).