title: Macroscopic constraints for the minimum entropy production principle.
abstract: In an essential and quite general setup, based on networks, we identify Schnakenberg's observables as the constraints that prevent a system from relaxing to equilibrium, showing that, in the linear regime, steady states satisfy a minimum entropy production principle. The result is applied to master equation systems, opening a new path to a well-known version of the principle regarding invariant states. Moreover, with the aid of a simple example, the principle is shown to conform to Prigogine's original formulation. Finally, we discuss analogies and differences with a recently proposed maximum entropy production principle.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. polettini@bo.infn.it
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polettini