The possibility of generalizing the thermodynamics of irreversible processes for some essentially nonequilibrium systems

The processes in a Rayleigh gas with a two-component light gas, with arbitrary (quasi-) stationary (isotropic) distribution functions of the light components and with arbitrary (isotropic) initial distribution functions of the heavy particles—structureless or harmonic oscillators, are investigated. Using generalized thermodynamic potentials of the heavy component with a nonequilibrium "thermostat," and a generalization of the production of entropy, a number of the theorems of thermodynamically irreversible processes (which assumes the possibility of a thermodynamic description of nonequilibrium systems) are generalized to essentially nonequilibrium systems (to which the thermodynamic description is inapplicable).