IRREVERSIBLE-PROCESSES - THE GENERALIZED AFFINITIES WITHIN TSALLIS STATISTICS

Within the generalized statistical mechanics introduced recently by Ts allis, the generalized form of the affinities (the quantities which dr ive a process in the theory of irreversible thermodynamics) was derive d. The affinities were obtained by considering changes in the generali zed entropy S-q(AUB) of a system composed by two subsystems A and B. T he non-extensive character of the Tsallis entropy is taken into accoun t. At the end, the equilibrium condition is discussed and the zeroth l aw in the framework of the generalized thermodynamics is consistently recovered: as in the usual case, two systems which are in equilibrium with a third one are necessarily in equilibrium among them and share t he same temperature. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.