Superstatistics, thermodynamics, and fluctuations

Abstract

A thermodynamic-like formalism is developed for superstatistical systems based on conditional entropies. This theory takes into account large-scale variations of intensive variables of systems in nonequilibrium stationary states. Ordinary thermodynamics is recovered as a special case of the present theory, and corrections to it can be systematically evaluated. A generalization of Einstein's relation for fluctuations is presented using a maximum entropy condition.

16 pages, no figures. The title changed, some explanations and references added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E