Concepts of nonequilibrium thermodynamics in discrete model of heat conduction

Examples of thermodynamic evolutions toward stationary states are exhibited in a one-dimensional heat conduction problem. A computer simulation technique is employed to solve the Fourier partial differential equation and compute the evolution of the three terms in the entropy balance equation. Some concepts of linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics are analyzed in the framework of the model: the meaning of the entropy balance equation, the disticntion between free and fixed forces, the role of the Onsager’s relations, and the relationship between the structural adaptation of a linear system to the externally imposed constraints and the entropic concept of ’’order.’’