Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.103, No.22, 9782-9787, 1995
Uniqueness of the Microscopic Stress Tensor
Schofield and Henderson have shown that the balance equation for the density of linear momentum does not provide a unique definition for the microscopic stress tensor, It is argued here that additional conditions of symmetry and physical interpretability, which reasonably can be imposed upon this tensor, are sufficient to establish the uniqueness of the familiar Irving-Kirkwood formula.
Keywords:STATISTICAL-MECHANICS;NONUNIFORM FLUIDS