Download or read book Statistical Mechanics written by James Sethna and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-04-07 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In each generation, scientists must redefine their fields: abstracting, simplifying and distilling the previous standard topics to make room for new advances and methods. Sethna's book takes this step for statistical mechanics - a field rooted in physics and chemistry whose ideas and methods are now central to information theory, complexity, and modern biology. Aimed at advanced undergraduates and early graduate students in all of these fields, Sethna limits his main presentation to the topics that future mathematicians and biologists, as well as physicists and chemists, will find fascinating and central to their work. The amazing breadth of the field is reflected in the author's large supply of carefully crafted exercises, each an introduction to a whole field of study: everything from chaos through information theory to life at the end of the universe.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics Entropy Order Parameters and Complexity written by James P. Sethna and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Statistical mechanics is our tool for deriving the laws that emerge from complex systems. Sethna's text distills the subject to be accessible to those in all realms of science and engineering — avoiding extensive use of quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and molecular physics. Statistical mechanics explains how bacteria search for food, and how DNA replication is proof-read in biology; optimizes data compression, and explains transitions in complexity in computer science; explains the onset of chaos, and launched random matrix theory in mathematics; addresses extreme events in engineering; and models pandemics and language usage in the social sciences. Sethna's exercises introduce physicists to these triumphs and a hundred others — broadening the horizons of scholars both practicing and nascent. Flipped classrooms and remote learning can now rely on 33 pre-class exercises that test reading comprehension (Emergent vs. fundamental; Weirdness in high dimensions; Aging, entropy and DNA), and 70 in-class activities that illuminate and broaden knowledge (Card shuffling; Human correlations; Crackling noises). Science is awash in information, providing ready access to definitions, explanations, and pedagogy. Sethna's text focuses on the tools we use to create new laws, and on the fascinating simple behavior in complex systems that statistical mechanics explains.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics written by James Sethna and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006-04-06 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sethna distills the core ideas of statistical mechanics to make room for new advances important to information theory, complexity, and modern biology. He explores everything from chaos through to life at the end of the universe.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics Algorithms and Computations written by Werner Krauth and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006-09-14 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the computational approach in modern statistical physics in a clear and accessible way and demonstrates its close relation to other approaches in theoretical physics. Individual chapters focus on subjects as diverse as the hard sphere liquid, classical spin models, single quantum particles and Bose-Einstein condensation. Contained within the chapters are in-depth discussions of algorithms, ranging from basic enumeration methods to modern Monte Carlo techniques. The emphasis is on orientation, with discussion of implementation details kept to a minimum. Illustrations, tables and concise printed algorithms convey key information, making the material very accessible. The book is completely self-contained and graphs and tables can readily be reproduced, requiring minimal computer code. Most sections begin at an elementary level and lead on to the rich and difficult problems of contemporary computational and statistical physics. The book will be of interest to a wide range of students, teachers and researchers in physics and the neighbouring sciences. An accompanying CD allows incorporation of the book's content (illustrations, tables, schematic programs) into the reader's own presentations.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions written by J. M. Yeomans and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 1992-05-07 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides an introduction to the physics which underlies phase transitions and to the theoretical techniques currently at our disposal for understanding them. It will be useful for advanced undergraduates, for post-graduate students undertaking research in related fields, and for established researchers in experimental physics, chemistry, and metallurgy as an exposition of current theoretical understanding. - ;Recent developments have led to a good understanding of universality; why phase transitions in systems as diverse as magnets, fluids, liquid crystals, and superconductors can be brought under the same theoretical umbrella and well described by simple models. This book describes the physics underlying universality and then lays out the theoretical approaches now available for studying phase transitions. Traditional techniques, mean-field theory, series expansions, and the transfer matrix, are described; the Monte Carlo method is covered, and two chapters are devoted to the renormalization group, which led to a break-through in the field. The book will be useful as a textbook for a course in `Phase Transitions', as an introduction for graduate students undertaking research in related fields, and as an overview for scientists in other disciplines who work with phase transitions but who are not aware of the current tools in the armoury of the theoretical physicist. - ;Introduction; Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics; Models; Mean-field theories; The transfer matrix; Series expansions; Monte Carlo simulations; The renormalization group; Implementations of the renormalization group. -
Download or read book Statistical Physics of Particles written by Mehran Kardar and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-06-07 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell written by Luca Peliti and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-28 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise introduction to statistical mechanics Statistical mechanics is one of the most exciting areas of physics today, and it also has applications to subjects as diverse as economics, social behavior, algorithmic theory, and evolutionary biology. Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell offers the most concise, self-contained introduction to this rapidly developing field. Requiring only a background in elementary calculus and elementary mechanics, this book starts with the basics, introduces the most important developments in classical statistical mechanics over the last thirty years, and guides readers to the very threshold of today's cutting-edge research. Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell zeroes in on the most relevant and promising advances in the field, including the theory of phase transitions, generalized Brownian motion and stochastic dynamics, the methods underlying Monte Carlo simulations, complex systems—and much, much more. The essential resource on the subject, this book is the most up-to-date and accessible introduction available for graduate students and advanced undergraduates seeking a succinct primer on the core ideas of statistical mechanics. Provides the most concise, self-contained introduction to statistical mechanics Focuses on the most promising advances, not complicated calculations Requires only elementary calculus and elementary mechanics Guides readers from the basics to the threshold of modern research Highlights the broad scope of applications of statistical mechanics
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics Entropy Order Parameters And Complexity written by J.P. Sethna and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics written by Terrell L. Hill and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-06-08 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four-part treatment covers principles of quantum statistical mechanics, systems composed of independent molecules or other independent subsystems, and systems of interacting molecules, concluding with a consideration of quantum statistics.
Download or read book Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics written by Herbert B. Callen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1991-01-16 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only text to cover both thermodynamic and statistical mechanics--allowing students to fully master thermodynamics at the macroscopic level. Presents essential ideas on critical phenomena developed over the last decade in simple, qualitative terms. This new edition maintains the simple structure of the first and puts new emphasis on pedagogical considerations. Thermostatistics is incorporated into the text without eclipsing macroscopic thermodynamics, and is integrated into the conceptual framework of physical theory.
Download or read book Quantum Mechanics in Phase Space written by Cosmas Zachos and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2005 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wigner's quasi-probability distribution function in phase space is a special (Weyl) representation of the density matrix. It has been useful in describing quantum transport in quantum optics; nuclear physics; decoherence, quantum computing, and quantum chaos. It is also important in signal processing and the mathematics of algebraic deformation. A remarkable aspect of its internal logic, pioneered by Groenewold and Moyal, has only emerged in the last quarter-century: it furnishes a third, alternative, formulation of quantum mechanics, independent of the conventional Hilbert space, or path integral formulations.In this logically complete and self-standing formulation, one need not choose sides ? coordinate or momentum space. It works in full phase space, accommodating the uncertainty principle, and it offers unique insights into the classical limit of quantum theory. This invaluable book is a collection of the seminal papers on the formulation, with an introductory overview which provides a trail map for those papers; an extensive bibliography; and simple illustrations, suitable for applications to a broad range of physics problems. It can provide supplementary material for a beginning graduate course in quantum mechanics.
Download or read book Statistical Mechanics of Lattice Systems written by Sacha Friedli and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-11-23 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A self-contained, mathematical introduction to the driving ideas in equilibrium statistical mechanics, studying important models in detail.
Download or read book Information Physics and Computation written by Marc Mézard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-22 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A very active field of research is emerging at the frontier of statistical physics, theoretical computer science/discrete mathematics, and coding/information theory. This book sets up a common language and pool of concepts, accessible to students and researchers from each of these fields.
Download or read book Microstates Entropy and Quanta written by Don Koks and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-25 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Statistical mechanics: the bane of many a physics student, and traditionally viewed as a long parade of ensembles, partition functions, and partial derivatives. But the subject needn't be arcane. When pared back to its underlying concepts and built from the ground up, statistical mechanics takes on a charm of its own, and sheds light on all manner of physical phenomena. This book presents a straightforward introduction to the key concepts in statistical mechanics, following the popular style of the author's highly successful textbook "Explorations in Mathematical Physics". Offering a clear, conceptual approach to the subject matter, the book presents a treatment that is mathematically complete, while remaining very accessible to undergraduates. It commences by asking: why does an ink drop spread out in a bathtub of water? This showcases the importance of counting configurations, which leads naturally to ideas of microstates, energy, entropy, thermodynamics, and physical chemistry. With this foundation, the Boltzmann distribution writes itself in its fullest form, and this opens the door to the Maxwell distribution and related areas of thermal conductivity and viscosity. Quantum ideas then appear: bosons via Einstein's and Debye's theories of heat capacity, and fermions via electrical conduction and low-temperature heat capacity of metals. The text ends with a detailed derivation of blackbody radiation, and uses this to discuss the greenhouse effect, lasers, and cosmology. Suitable for use with core undergraduate courses in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, this book concentrates on using solid mathematics, while avoiding cumbersome notation. All the necessary mathematical steps are included in the body of the text and in the worked examples. Reviews of Explorations in Mathematical Physics by Don Koks, 2006 "With enjoyable and sometimes surprising excursions along the way, the journey provides a fresh look at many familiar topics, as it takes us from basic linear mathematics to general relativity... look forward to having your geometric intuition nourished and expanded by the author's intelligent commentaries." (Eugen Merzbacher, University of North Carolina) "... an interesting supplement to standard texts for teaching mathematical methods in physics, as it will add alternative views that could serve as additional material." (S. Marcelja, Australian Journal of Physics) "... a tour through the main ideas forming the language of modern mathematical physics ...it is a difficult task for the author to decide what is a good balance between the topics and their presentation, but in this case it has been achieved. ...for those physicists who would like to be exposed to clear motivation and careful explanation of the basics of the present-day apparatus of mathematical physics." (Ivailo Mladenov, Mathematical Reviews).
Download or read book Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Small Systems written by Andrea Puglisi and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Small Systems" that was published in Entropy
Download or read book Computational Statistical Mechanics written by W.G. Hoover and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Computational Statistical Mechanics describes the use of fast computers to simulate the equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of gases, liquids, and solids at, and away from equilibrium. The underlying theory is developed from basic principles and illustrated by applying it to the simplest possible examples. Thermodynamics, based on the ideal gas thermometer, is related to Gibb's statistical mechanics through the use of Nosé-Hoover heat reservoirs. These reservoirs use integral feedback to control temperature. The same approach is carried through to the simulation and analysis of nonequilibrium mass, momentum, and energy flows. Such a unified approach makes possible consistent mechanical definitions of temperature, stress, and heat flux which lead to a microscopic demonstration of the Second Law of Thermodynamics directly from mechanics. The intimate connection linking Lyapunov-unstable microscopic motions to macroscopic dissipative flows through multifractal phase-space structures is illustrated with many examples from the recent literature. The book is well-suited for undergraduate courses in advanced thermodynamics, statistical mechanic and transport theory, and graduate courses in physics and chemistry.
Download or read book Entropy and Non Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics written by Antonio M. Scarfone and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics has a long history featuring diverse aspects. It has been a major research field in physics and will remain so in the future. Even regarding the concept of entropy, there exists a longstanding problem concerning its definition for a system in a state far from equilibrium. In this Special Issue, we offered the possibility to discuss and present up-to-date problems that were not necessarily restricted to statistical mechanics. Theoretical and experimental papers are both presented, in addition to unifying research works. As the entropy itself is the central element of nonequilibrium processes, papers discuss various formulations of the second law and its consequences. In this Special Issue, recent progress in kinetic approaches to hydrodynamics, rational extended thermodynamics, entropy in a strongly nonequilibrium stationary state, and related topics are reported as both review articles as well as original research works.