space-time dimensions and
order production we can get a physical understanding of how this
works.
Figure 6 is a schematic drawing
of the generalized pattern of flow that defines the new space-time
level in the ordered regime of the Bénard experiment.
It shows the ordered flow moving hot fluid up from the bottom
through the center, across the top surface where it is cooled
by the air, and down the sides where it pulls in more potential
as it moves across the bottom and then rises through the center
again as the cycle repeats. Figure 7 shows the dramatic increase
in entropy production that occurs with the switch to the ordered
regime, and this is just what we would expect from the balance
equation of the second law. Ordered flow must function to increase
the rate of entropy production of the system plus environment,
must pull in sufficient resources and dissipate them, to satisfy
the balance equation. Ordered flow, in other words, must be more
efficient at dissipating potentials than disordered flow, and
in Figure 6 we see how this works in a simple physical system.
The fact that ordered flow is more |
 |
| Figure 7. The discontinuous
increase in the rate of heat transport that follows from the
disorder-to-order transition in a simple fluid experiment similar
to that shown in Figure 5. The rate of heat transport in the
disordered regime is given by k , and k +s is the heat transport
in the ordered regime [3.1 x 10-4H(cal x cm.-2 x sec-1)].
From R. Swenson, in M. Rogers and N. Warren (Eds.), A Delicate
Balance: Technics, Culture and Consequences (p. 70), 1989a,
Los Angeles: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE). Copyright 1989 IEEE. Reprinted by permission. |
efficient at minimizing potentials brings
us to the final piece in the puzzle. |
