Dissipative Systems and Into the Cool

Closed systemsFree energy in a closed system in

near equilibrium will decrease in time

Entropy will increaseIn near-equilibrium, entropy

production can be minimized

Thermodynamics is a useful macro description of the energetics of systemsIt is the internal processes of life

that govern the systemThe boundary conditions as

described by organic chemistry and molecular biology set the stage◦Organic molecules interacting and

performing functions◦Genetic information stored, passed

on, and modified

Into the Cool: Essential ConceptsLife can be considered as

complex, adaptive, dissipative structures

Open system: material and energy are exchanged with the surroundings

Certain micro-processes can lead to energy exchange so that internal entropy is not increased

Prigoginian Dissipative StructuresThermodynamically open system

which is operating out of, and often far from, thermodynamic equilibrium in an environment with which it exchanges energy and matter (Wikipedia)

Energy gradients across the system

Energy in these gradients are used (degraded) in different ways

Prigoginian Dissipative Structures Characteristics:

◦constant temperature◦homogeneous (isotropic)◦in mechanical and thermal

equilibrium with its surroundings

Prigoginian Dissipative StructuresIn a steady state, total entropy

will not change But in a near-steady state, total

entropy will decreaseThis guarantees the equilibrium

of near-steady state system far from equilibrium with the external environment

Prigoginian Dissipative StructuresThese systems resist being

moved away from their internal equilibrium by energy gradients (somewhat like inertia) and will form structures that will achieve this goal

Limitations of Dissipative StructuresDissipative structures defined by

Prigogine do not apply to the real world, such as people or forests

Perhaps a better thermodynamic term to describe life is “far-from-equilibrium adaptive structures”?

Thermodynamics cannot uniquely describe these structures

Into the Cool: Essential ConceptsThese complex structures are such that they

are far from thermal equilibrium with their surroundings

Energy is needed to maintain their state; internal entropy does not increase as it is offset by converted external energy

Waste and heat are given off, entropy (not useful energy) of the surroundings is therefore increased

The sun provides the source of useful biological energy the planet is comprises of interacting complex processes and structures

Bénard Cells

Heat

Force of Gravity

3-D Simulation of Bénard Cells

Solar Prominences as Complex Systems not Described by Thermodynamics (but by Plasma Physics)

Limitations of “Into the Cool”

Issues with Into the CoolPage 31, and elsewhere, overstates the

role of thermodynamics in the development of life

“But the rule of rules…is the second law of thermodynamics. … The second law leads to structure by selecting compounds in low-energy combinations, and in selecting for cyclic networks that continuously degrade energy; …Life’s cycling of complex compounds is selected for by the second law because it provides stable means of degradation.”

IssuesThere is no proof that optimum

efficiency organisms and processes are selected by thermodynamics.

In fact, this statement is nonsensical because thermodynamics is a description of thermal processes and not a theory of mechanisms at the very small scale.

IssuesLife likely depends very much on:

carbon-based molecules, rather than some other element (silicon)

the way organic molecules are created and their interactions are explained by quantum mechanics molecular biology

the boundary conditions (“primordial soup”, Oparin, 1924 & Haldane, 1929; “primitive pizza”, Wachtershauser, 1988) at the beginning of time

changes through time due to interactions at the molecular level (underlying evolution)

Creation of complex structures through time (evolution)

IssuesEnergy is obviously needed to run a

molecular system and the energetics can be described as a thermodynamic system

There is an inherent hierarchy in how we understand how things work, and this is scale-dependent

Most complex systems have a complex structure at all relevant scales

Time’s arrow is overplayedThere is no true understanding of what time

means and it is possible that it is also scale dependent

On very large scales, this is likely governed by the structure of the universe

On small scales, many processes are reversibleEinstein’s special theory depended on

“mechanical clocks” Other measures of time:

◦ The Earth’s revolution about the sun and about its axis

◦ Today, “official” time is measured by the vibrations of atoms

Time’s arrow is overplayed

People have built-in clocks that depend on the sun rising and setting (circadian rhythms; the CLOCK gene)

At the quantum scales, there are reversible processes on a local scale, time is not measurable and may not be relevant

TimeThermodynamics can also define

time in terms of irreversible processes

NB: Entropy does not cause death in living beings: in far from equilibrium systems that are provided energy, there is no reason why the system should die◦Death is coded into our genes and

through disease processes

TimePerception of time is not the

same as measuring timePerception is based on short- and

long-term memory and how the neurons in our brain are organized and accessed

TimeThe so-called “heat death” of the universe

may be an incorrect extrapolation of the 2nd Law as we are uncertain of the entire set of mechanisms that govern the functioning of the universe◦ General relativity may not always apply◦ The Big Bang theory may be incorrect because of

our inability to: observe back in time completely understand the laws of physics in compact, massive

objects imagine and interpret observations correctly

◦ Are there other forces that act on cosmic scales? “Dark energy”, “dark matter”, Higgs field

Macro scale degrading of thermodynamic gradientsIn equilibrium of our gas example,

there will be micro-gradients induced because molecules are moving at different velocities, and this will lead to micro-agglomerations of particles

Because of the randomness of motion, these will damp out rapidly as others form

On the average, these cancel each other stable equilibrium on a system scale

Macro scale degrading of thermodynamic gradientsIncreasing entropy suggests that

gradients degrade with time, unless energy is provided

“Nature abhors a gradient”◦Alternatively, “nature develops complexity

by using energy and chemical gradients”Example: hurricanes are air conditioners

that take energy from the tropics and move it to cooler regions, but these are not stable structures

Schneider and Kay’s Restated Second Law“As systems are moved away

from equilibrium, they will utilize all avenues available to counter the applied gradients. As the applied gradients increase, so does the system's ability to oppose further movement from equilibrium.”

Complexity in SocioecosystemsKey concepts and definitionsSome examples

Emergent Complex Systems(Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1994)

Ordinary complex systems Diversity of elements coexisting through competition

and cooperation Maintain dynamic stability against perturbations Behaviour can be explained through mechanistic

models Emergent complex systems

cannot be fully explained mechanistically and functionally;

the system possess individuality, intentionality, consciousness, foresight, purpose, symbolic representations and morality

Novelty as a property of these systems.

• Although different from ecological systems, ECS can still be studied

Management of these systems needs to consider the system’s inherent contradictions

Complementarity when opposing elements are kept in a dynamic balance (predation)

Destructive conflict (fisheries) Creative tension (incompatibilities

arise from competing interests)

Emergent Complex Systems(cont) (Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1994)

Panarchy: Understanding transformations in human and natural systems (Gunderson & Holling, 2001)

Hierarchical structure in which systems of nature, and humans, as well as combined human–nature systems and social-ecological systems, are interlinked in never-ending adaptive cycles of growth, accumulation, restructuring, and renewal.

Panarchy is a representation of the ways in which a healthy socio-ecological system can invent and experiment, benefiting from inventions that create opportunity and protecting the system form while destabilization

If the transfer from one level to the other is maintained, the interactions within the levels themselves can be transformed, or the variables changed, without the whole system losing its integrity

Adaptive Cycle (Holling, 2001)

• The inherent potential of a system that is available for change

• The internal controllability of a system

• The adaptive capacity

A panarchy is a cross- scale, nested set of adaptive cycles that indicates the dynamic nature of structures

Resilience?• As the phases of the

adaptive cycle proceed, a system’s ecological “resilience” expands and contracts

• Each level is allowed to operate at its own pace, protected from above by slower, larger levels but invigorated from below by faster, smaller cycles of innovation.

Policy Implications

Critical features: Environment and socioecological systems

Hierarchy in feedback mechanisms Maintenance of diversity Options for selection to act upon Coupling of stimulus and response (space, time and

scale) Critical features: Economic systems

Competition, government and institutions Investment portfolio, treatment of risk and uncertainty