MIT 2.43: Advanced Thermodynamics
The complete 25-lecture MIT 2.43 Advanced Thermodynamics course (Spring 2024), taught by Prof. Gian Paolo Beretta. A rigorous, axiomatic treatment of thermodynamics covering nonequilibrium states, availability (exergy) analysis, mixtures, phase equilibria, chemical kinetics, and nonequilibrium thermodynamics with Onsager reciprocity.
Lecture 1: Definitions of System, Property, State, and Weight Process; First Law and Energy
Lecture 2: Second Law and Entropy; Adiabatic Availability; Maximum Entropy Principle
Lecture 3: Energy vs Entropy Diagrams for Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium States
Lecture 4: Temperature, Pressure, Chemical Potentials; the Clausius Statement
Lecture 5: Definition of Heat Interaction; First and Second Law Efficiencies
About This Course
MIT 2.43 goes far beyond standard thermodynamics courses. It builds on a rigorous axiomatic framework (the Hatsopoulos-Keenan-Gyftopoulos approach) that treats nonequilibrium states on equal footing with equilibrium, introduces availability/exergy as a central concept, and culminates in nonequilibrium thermodynamics with Onsager's reciprocal relations and a proposed “Fourth Law.”
All content is publicly available via MIT OpenCourseWare. An excellent follow-up to MIT 5.60 for those seeking deeper foundations.