THE EQUIVALENCE OF NORTON AND THEVENIN ENSEMBLES

In irreversible thermodynamics it is assumed that dissipative systems can be described by taking either the thermodynamic force or the thermodynamic flux as an independent state defining variable. Similarly in electric circuit theory it is assumed that any circuit can be represented by either a Norton (constant current) or a Thevenin (constant voltage) equivalent circuit. In this paper we sketch a statistical mechanical proof of this equivalence.