Mathematics and Physical Properties

We have mentioned several times now that the.rmodynamics is best viewed as a model, rather than some kind of description of natural processes. In this section we take a closer look at why this must be so. One of the main reasons is that we use physical properties as mathematical variables. 

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The RIs display a number of interesting mathematical and physical properties. To briefly introduce these properties, we define the RIs generated from the same branch (either the stable or the unstable branch) to be of the same family. We also denote by RI +i the reactive island generated from a further iteration of the reactive island RIy. That is, the area of RIy wiU, upon one positive or negative time iteration, map onto RIy+i or RIy-i within the same family. It... 

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