Overview
Building on the material learned by students in their first few years of study, this book presents an advanced level course on statistical and thermal physics. It begins with a review of the formal structure of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics considered from a unified viewpoint. After a brief revision of non-interacting systems, emphasis is laid on interacting systems. First, weakly interacting systems are considered, where the interest is in seeing how such interactions cause small deviations from the non-interacting case. Second, systems are examined where interactions lead to drastic changes, namely phase transitions. A number of specific examples are given, and these are unified within the Landau theory of phase transitions. The final chapter of the book looks at non-equilibrium systems and the way these evolve towards equilibrium. Here, fluctuations play a vital role, as is formalized in the Fluctuation-Dissipation theorem.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781860945694
- ISBN-10: 1860945694
- Publisher: Imperial College Press
- Publish Date: September 2005
- Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.15 pounds
- Page Count: 336
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