Understanding Thermodynamics

Clear treatment of systems and first and second laws of thermodynamics features informal language, vivid and lively examples, and fresh perspectives. Excellent supplement for undergraduate science or engineering class.

Discover the many facets of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The first part of this book describes the current thermodynamic formalism recognized as the classical theory. The second part focuses on different approaches. Throughout the presentation, the emphasis is on problem-solving applications. To help build your understanding, some problems have been analyzed using several formalisms to underscore their differences and their similarities.

Often, thermodynamics textbooks suffer because the authors overlook certain points. These points, while trivial to experts, tend to confuse students. Though this book is not intended as a textbook, its tutorial aim will help students to better understand the basic concepts of thermodynamics. The author writes from the perspective that as long as one knows the terms and reasoning behind a scientific concept, the concept itself becomes easy. This book contains sections discussing the development of thermodynamics, underlying maths principles, and rudimentary laws.

Students, academics and researchers will find this book an invaluable contribution to the understanding of thermodynamics. In this new treatment of the subject, the authors focus on the principles of thermodynamic variables and the practical simulation of thermodynamic systems, and endeavor to show how simple thermodynamics really is. It offers a unique view of modern complex systems engineering and its ramifications.

List of signs and symbols

Beyond Equilibrium Thermodynamics fills a niche in the market by providing a comprehensive introduction to a new, emerging topic in the field. The importance of non-equilibrium thermodynamics is addressed in order to fully understand how a system works, whether it is in a biological system like the brain or a system that develops plastic. In order to fully grasp the subject, the book clearly explains the physical concepts and mathematics involved, as well as presenting problems and solutions; over 200 exercises and answers are included. Engineers, scientists, and applied mathematicians can all use the book to address their problems in modelling, calculating, and understanding dynamic responses of materials.

Statistical thermodynamics and the related domains of statistical physics and quantum mechanics are very important in many fields of research, including plasmas, rarefied gas dynamics, nuclear systems, lasers, semiconductors, superconductivity, ortho- and para-hydrogen, liquid helium, and so on. Statistical Thermodynamics: Understanding the Properties of Macroscopic Systems provides a detailed overview of how to apply statistical principles to obtain the physical and thermodynamic properties of macroscopic systems. Intended for physics, chemistry, and other science students at the graduate level, the book starts with fundamental principles of statistical physics, before diving into thermodynamics. Going further than many advanced textbooks, it includes Bose-Einstein, Fermi-Dirac statistics, and Lattice dynamics as well as applications in polaron theory, electronic gas in a magnetic field, thermodynamics of dielectrics, and magnetic materials in a magnetic field. The book concludes with an examination of statistical thermodynamics using functional integration and Feynman path integrals, and includes a wide range of problems with solutions that explain the theory.