An Information Theory Approach to Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

This is an attempt to establish a simple approach to nonequilibrium thermodynamics. A generalized entropy is formulated from an information theory viewpoint and from a thermodynamic viewpoint. Rate laws, coupling phenomena, equality of cross coefficients, and a criterion for the changes of the steady state, all emerge when the maximum entropy of information is linearly related to the thermodynamic entropy. The results are not strictly new but their integration in one simple approach is believed to be novel.