dissipativen

Dissipativ, or dissipative (German: dissipativen) is an adjective used in physics and related fields to describe systems and processes that lose energy to their surroundings through irreversible mechanisms. In thermodynamics, a dissipative process is one in which part of the system's useful energy is converted into less usable forms, commonly as heat, increasing the entropy of the universe. This contrasts with idealized conservative systems where energy exchange can be fully reversible.

In non-equilibrium thermodynamics, dissipative systems are typically open or driven, exchanging energy and sometimes matter with their environment. Continuous energy input can sustain steady states far from equilibrium, and in many cases give rise to dissipative structures—ordered patterns maintained by continuous energy throughput. Classic examples include convection cells in fluids, chemical oscillations, and biological organisms.

Dissipation is intimately linked to viscosity, thermal conduction, diffusion and friction, which convert organized energy into random microscopic motion. The rate of energy dissipation depends on material properties and flow or reaction conditions.

In mathematics and control theory, dissipativity is a formal concept describing how a system stores or dissipates energy. A system is dissipative if there exists a storage function such that the rate of change of stored energy does not exceed the supplied energy over time. This framework leads to notions of passivity and is used to analyze stability and robust behavior of complex systems.

In quantum mechanics, dissipative effects arise when a system interacts with its environment, leading to decoherence and energy exchange described by open quantum system formalisms.