NONEQUILIBRIUM TEMPERATURE AND HYPERBOLIC HEAT-CONDUCTION

A generalized definition of temperature, which holds both for equilibr ium and nonequilibrium states, is proposed. Then, two conceivable rela tions between the generalized temperature and the internal energy per unit mass are considered, for a medium at constant density. These assu mptions split the theory of internal-energy waves, recently presented by the authors, in two theories of generalized-temperature waves, whic h can be checked experimentally by means of thermometers. The predicti ons of these theories are compared.