On Clausius' approach to entropy and analogies in non-equilibrium

Abstract

In his ninth memoir Clausius summarizes the two principles of thermodynamics as follows: "The whole mechanical theory of heat rests on two fundamental theorems: that of equivalence of heat and work, and that of equivalence of transformations." This paper contains an introduction to Clausius' approach to entropy as illustrated in his original articles and describes an analogy in the macroscopic fluctuation theory of non-equilibrium diffusive systems.