Information theory and thermodynamics of polymer solutions under flow

It is shown that the identification of the Lagrange multiplier conjugated to the viscous pressure tensor that was proposed in a previous paper [Physica A 233 (1996) 163–174] on information theory applied to fluids under flow yields for the orientational distribution function of dilute dumbbell solutions a result which coincides, for potential flows, with the solution of the microscopic kinetic equations. The implications for a nonequilibrium thermodynamics under flow are discussed.