Local equilibrium of the Gibbs interface in two-phase systems

¹ Department of Materials, ETH Zürich - CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology - 7491 Trondheim, Norway
³ Process & Energy Laboratory, Delft University of Technology - Leeghwaterstraat 44, 2628CA Delft, The Netherlands, EU

^a savin@mat.ethz.ch

Received: 14 November 2011
Accepted: 8 January 2012

Abstract

We analyze the local equilibrium assumption for interfaces from the perspective of gauge transformations, which are the small displacements of Gibbs' dividing surface. The gauge invariance of thermodynamic properties turns out to be equivalent to conditions for jumps of bulk densities across the interface. This insight strengthens the foundations of the local equilibrium assumption for interfaces and can be used to characterize nonequilibrium interfaces in a compact and consistent way, with a clear focus on gauge-invariant properties. Using the principle of gauge invariance, we show that the validity of Clapeyron equations can be extended to nonequilibrium interfaces, and an additional jump condition for the momentum density is recognized to be of the Clapeyron type.