title: Irreversible thermodynamics of multistep transitions.
abstract: Conditions under which the evolution equations of a multivariate system can be cast in a variational form are identified. A kinetic potential generating both the deterministic part of the evolution and the probabilistic properties in a suitably defined set of variables is derived and compared to the thermodynamic potentials. The results are illustrated on the kinetics of phase transitions involving intermediate metastable phases and chemical reactions giving rise to two or more intermediate species.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Code Postal 231, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nicolis
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicolis