Ehrenfest's argument extended to a formalism of nonequilibrium thermodynamics - art. no. 066124

A general method of constructing dissipative equations is developed, follow ing Ehrenfest's idea of coarse graining. The approach resolves the major is sue of discrete time coarse graining versus continuous time macroscopic equ ations. Proof of the H theorem for macroscopic equations is given, several examples supporting the construction are presented, and generalizations are suggested.