Foundations of Statistical Mechanics: A Deductive Treatment (Dover Books on Physics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.39 (787 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0486438708 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"A neglected classic of enduring value" according to Nicholas Wheeler. A carefully reasoned development of a subject of fundamental importance. The value of the work, which first appeared in 1970, seems to have been largely overlooked until fairly recently. Has been found to be at some points to have been well ahead of its time.
Two concluding chapters are devoted to an analysis of the notion of entropy, illustrating its links between statistical mechanics and thermodynamics and between statistical mechanics and communication theory. These postulates play a theoretical role similar to that of the first and second laws in thermodynamics.The first chapter concerns the primary physical assumptions and their idealization in the form of postulates. A solid basis for the deductive structure is provided by embodying these assumptions in a system of five postulates that describe an idealized model of real physical systems. Because this book deals mostly with general principles, its only