Old wine in new bottles

Onsager’s reciprocity relations for the coefficients of transport equations are now 87 years old. Sometimes these relations are called the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. Among others they provide an effective criterion for the existence of local equilibrium and of microscopic reversibility. Since the beginning of the century Onsager’s relations have seen a revival in the field of spincaloritronics. There the relations are very helpful in judging the utility of modern devices for electronic data processing.