Elements Of Statistical Mechanics

This 2006 textbook provides a concise introduction to the key concepts and tools of statistical mechanics. It also covers advanced topics such as non-relativistic quantum field theory and numerical methods. After introducing classical analytical techniques, such as cluster expansion and Landau theory, the authors present important numerical methods with applications to magnetic systems, Lennard-Jones fluids and biophysics. Quantum statistical mechanics is discussed in detail and applied to Bose-Einstein condensation and topics in astrophysics and cosmology. In order to describe emergent phenomena in interacting quantum systems, canonical non-relativistic quantum field theory is introduced and then reformulated in terms of Feynman integrals. Combining the authors' many years' experience of teaching courses in this area, this textbook is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

This book deals with the basic principles and techniques of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. The importance of this subject is growing rapidly in view of the advances being made, both experimentally and theoretically, in statistical physics, chemical physics, biological physics, complex systems and several other areas. The presentation of topics is quite self-contained, and the choice of topics enables the student to form a coherent picture of the subject. The approach is unique in that classical mechanical formulation takes center stage. The book is of particular interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in engineering departments.

This concise, elementary treatment illustrates the ways in which an atomic-molecular perspective yields new insights and powers operative in the realms of macroscopic thermodynamics. Starting with an analysis of some very simple microcanonical ensembles, it proceeds to the Boltzmann distribution law and a systematic exploration of the proper formulation, evaluation, and application of partition functions. The concepts of equilibrium and entropy thus acquire new significance, and readers discover how thermodynamic parameters may be calculated from spectroscopic data. Encompassing virtually all of the forms of statistical mechanics customary to undergraduate physical chemistry books, this brief text requires prior acquaintance with only the rudiments of the calculus and a few of the simplest propositions of classical thermodynamics. Appropriate for introductory college chemistry courses, it further lends itself to use as a supplementary text for independent study by more advanced students.

This book provides a gentle introduction to equilibrium statistical mechanics. The particular aim is to fill the needs of readers who wish to learn the subject without a solid background in classical and quantum mechanics. The approach is unique in that classical mechanical formulation takes center stage. The book will be of particular interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in engineering departments.

Elementary concepts in statistics and probability - The ising model and the lattice gas - Elements of thermodynamics - Statistical mechanics - The world of bosons - All about fermions : theories of metals, superconductors, semiconductors - Kinetic theory - The transfer matrix - Some uses of quantum field theory in statistical physics.