Elementary Statistical Physics

by Charles Kittel

Overview

Noteworthy for the philosophical subtlety of its foundations and the elegance of its problem-solving methods, statistical mechanics can be employed in a broad range of applications -- among them, astrophysics, biology, chemistry, nuclear and solid state physics, communications engineering, metallurgy, and mathematics. Geared toward graduate students in physics, this text covers such important topics as stochastic processes and transport theory in order to provide students with a working knowledge of statistical mechanics.
To explain the fundamentals of his subject, the author uses the method of ensembles developed by J. Willard Gibbs. Topics include the properties of the Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions; the interrelated subjects of fluctuations, thermal noise, and Brownian movement; and the thermodynamics of irreversible processes.
Negative temperature, magnetic energy, density matrix methods, and the Kramers-Kronig causality relations are treated briefly. Most sections include illustrative problems. Appendix. 28 figures. 1 table.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486435145
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	03/08/2004
Series:	Dover Books on Physics
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	658,361
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

1. Fundamental Principles of Statistical Mechanics
2. Fluctuations, Noise, and Irreversible Thermodynamics
3. Kinetic Methods and Transport Theory
Appendix.

Introduction

Noteworthy for the philosophical subtlety of its foundations and the elegance of its problem-solving methods, statistical mechanics can be employed in a broad range of applications-among them, astrophysics, communications engineering, metallurgy, and mathematics. Geared toward graduate students towards in physics, this text covers such important topics as stochastic processes and transport theory in order to provide students with a working knowledge of statistical mechanics. To explain the fundamentals of his subject, the author uses the method of ensembles developed by J. Williard Gibbs. Topics include the properties of the Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions; the interrelated subjects of fluctuations, thermal noise, and Brownian movement; and the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. Negative temperature, magnetic energy, density matrix methods, and the Kramers-Kronig causality relations are treated briefly. Most sections include illustrative problems.