Matteo Polettini - University of Luxembourg #
The gauge symmetry of nonequilibrium thermodynamics #
Picking up a thread of discussion initiated at the 15th Pama Seminar, I 
will discuss how to reconcile non-invariance of the Gibbs-Shannon 
entropy under coodinate transformations with the required invariance of 
the laws of thermodynamics, a problem that mingles with that of the 
apparent subjectivity of the information-theoretic approach to 
Statistical Mechanics. In particular, I will show how to derive general 
features of thermodynamics from a gauge principle, I will discuss the 
gauge connection and its curvature, and I will give an application to 
the Minimum Entropy Production Priciple.