Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics of Heterogeneous Fluid Systems

There is a wide variety of heterogeneous fluid systems that possess interphase surfaces. This monograph is devoted to pioneering studies in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics of such systems. Starting from the Liouville equation, the equations of surface hydrodynamics are derived with allowance for discontinuities of thermodynamic parameters of interphase boundaries. Brownian motion of a large solid particle in a fluid and nucleation are treated as results of fluctuations of flows across particle surfaces. With the use of the Gibbs method, a shock wave in a gas is considered as a sort of an interphase surface, and the surface tension of a shock front is introduced for the first time.