Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics

Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics
Author: George D.J. Phillies
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461212642

This textbook for graduates and advanced undergraduates in physics and physical chemistry covers the major areas of statistical mechanics and concludes with the level of current research. It begins with the fundamental ideas of averages and ensembles, focusing on classical systems described by continuous variables such as position and momentum, and using the ideal gas as an example. It then turns to quantum systems, beginning with diatomic molecules and working up through blackbody radiation and chemical equilibria. The discussion of equilibrium properties of systems of interacting particles includes such techniques as cluster expansions and distribution functions and uses non-ideal gases, liquids, and solutions. Dynamic behavior -- treated here more extensively than in other texts -- is discussed from the point of view of correlation functions. The text concludes with the problem of diffusion in a suspension of interacting hard spheres and what can be learned about such a system from scattered light. Intended for a one-semester course, the text includes several "asides" on topics usually omitted from introductory courses, as well as numerous exercises.

Statistical Mechanics of Lattice Systems

Statistical Mechanics of Lattice Systems
Author: Sacha Friedli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 643
Release: 2017-11-23
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1107184827

A self-contained, mathematical introduction to the driving ideas in equilibrium statistical mechanics, studying important models in detail.

Statistical Physics of Particles

Statistical Physics of Particles
Author: Mehran Kardar
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2007-06-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139464876

Statistical physics has its origins in attempts to describe the thermal properties of matter in terms of its constituent particles, and has played a fundamental role in the development of quantum mechanics. Based on lectures taught by Professor Kardar at MIT, this textbook introduces the central concepts and tools of statistical physics. It contains a chapter on probability and related issues such as the central limit theorem and information theory, and covers interacting particles, with an extensive description of the van der Waals equation and its derivation by mean field approximation. It also contains an integrated set of problems, with solutions to selected problems at the end of the book and a complete set of solutions is available to lecturers on a password protected website at www.cambridge.org/9780521873420. A companion volume, Statistical Physics of Fields, discusses non-mean field aspects of scaling and critical phenomena, through the perspective of renormalization group.

Statistical Mechanics for Chemistry and Materials Science

Statistical Mechanics for Chemistry and Materials Science
Author: Biman Bagchi
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 660
Release: 2018-07-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429833601

This book covers the broad subject of equilibrium statistical mechanics along with many advanced and modern topics such as nucleation, spinodal decomposition, inherent structures of liquids and liquid crystals. Unlike other books on the market, this comprehensive text not only deals with the primary fundamental ideas of statistical mechanics but also covers contemporary topics in this broad and rapidly developing area of chemistry and materials science.

Advanced Statistical Mechanics

Advanced Statistical Mechanics
Author: Jian-sheng Wang
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2021-11-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 981124216X

This short textbook covers roughly 13 weeks of lectures on advanced statistical mechanics at the graduate level. It starts with an elementary introduction to the theory of ensembles from classical mechanics, and then goes on to quantum statistical mechanics with density matrix. These topics are covered concisely and briefly. The advanced topics cover the mean-field theory for phase transitions, the Ising models and their exact solutions, and critical phenomena and their scaling theory. The mean-field theories are discussed thoroughly with several different perspectives — focusing on a single degree, or using Feynman-Jensen-Bogoliubov inequality, cavity method, or Landau theory. The renormalization group theory is mentioned only briefly. As examples of computational and numerical approach, there is a chapter on Monte Carlo method including the cluster algorithms. The second half of the book studies nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, which includes the Brownian motion, the Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations, Boltzmann equation, linear response theory, and the Jarzynski equality. The book ends with a brief discussion of irreversibility. The topics are supplemented by problem sets (with partial answers) and supplementary readings up to the current research, such as heat transport with a Fokker-Planck approach.

Lectures On Phase Transitions And The Renormalization Group

Lectures On Phase Transitions And The Renormalization Group
Author: Nigel Goldenfeld
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2018-03-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429962045

Covering the elementary aspects of the physics of phases transitions and the renormalization group, this popular book is widely used both for core graduate statistical mechanics courses as well as for more specialized courses. Emphasizing understanding and clarity rather than technical manipulation, these lectures de-mystify the subject and show precisely "how things work." Goldenfeld keeps in mind a reader who wants to understand why things are done, what the results are, and what in principle can go wrong. The book reaches both experimentalists and theorists, students and even active researchers, and assumes only a prior knowledge of statistical mechanics at the introductory graduate level.Advanced, never-before-printed topics on the applications of renormalization group far from equilibrium and to partial differential equations add to the uniqueness of this book.

Statistical Mechanics

Statistical Mechanics
Author: Richard P. Feynman
Publisher: Westview Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 1998-03-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0201360764

Physics, rather than mathematics, is the focus in this classic graduate lecture note volume on statistical mechanics and the physics of condensed matter.

Scaling and Renormalization in Statistical Physics

Scaling and Renormalization in Statistical Physics
Author: John Cardy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1996-04-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521499590

This text provides a thoroughly modern graduate-level introduction to the theory of critical behaviour. It begins with a brief review of phase transitions in simple systems, then goes on to introduce the core ideas of the renormalisation group.

Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics

Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics
Author: George D.J. Phillies
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781461270683

This textbook for graduates and advanced undergraduates in physics and physical chemistry covers the major areas of statistical mechanics and concludes with the level of current research. It begins with the fundamental ideas of averages and ensembles, focusing on classical systems described by continuous variables such as position and momentum, and using the ideal gas as an example. It then turns to quantum systems, beginning with diatomic molecules and working up through blackbody radiation and chemical equilibria. The discussion of equilibrium properties of systems of interacting particles includes such techniques as cluster expansions and distribution functions and uses non-ideal gases, liquids, and solutions. Dynamic behavior -- treated here more extensively than in other texts -- is discussed from the point of view of correlation functions. The text concludes with the problem of diffusion in a suspension of interacting hard spheres and what can be learned about such a system from scattered light. Intended for a one-semester course, the text includes several "asides" on topics usually omitted from introductory courses, as well as numerous exercises.