Maximum entropy production and constructal law: Variable conductance and branched flow

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Within the scope of modern thermodynamics, several new principles have been advanced. Yet a coherent picture has not yet fully emerged beyond classical thermodynamics, in part because of the disparate nature of these principles. This work analyzes two such principles, that of maximum entropy production and also the constructal law. These ideas are compared in two examples scenarios, atmospheric convection and riverbed generation. It is shown that both ideas utilized a flow network with variable conductivity, particularly that of a branched system. Comparison is made to show underlying shared principles.