1st Edition

Statistical Mechanics From Thermodynamics to the Renormalization Group

By James H. Luscombe Copyright 2021
400 Pages
by CRC Press

400 Pages
by CRC Press

400 Pages
by CRC Press

This textbook provides a comprehensive, yet accessible, introduction to statistical mechanics. Crafted and class-tested over many years of teaching, it carefully guides advanced undergraduate and graduate students who are encountering statistical mechanics for the first time through this – sometimes – intimidating subject. The book provides a strong foundation in thermodynamics and the ensemble... Read more

Part One. Structure of Statistics

Chapter 1. Thermodynamics

Chapter 2. From Mechanics to Statistical Mechanics

Chapter 3. Probability Theory

Chapter 4. Ensemble Theory

Part Two. Applications of Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics

Chapter 5. Ideal Systems

Chapter 6. Interacting Systems

Chapter 7. Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

Chapter 8. Scaling Theories and the Renormalization Group

Biography

James H. Luscombe received the PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1983. After post-doctoral positions at the University of Toronto and Iowa State University, he joined the Research Laboratory of Texas Instruments, where he worked on the development of nanoelectronic devices. In 1994, he joined the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, where he is Professor of Physics. He was Chair of the Department of Physics from 2003 – 2009. He teaches a wide variety of topics, including generalrelativity, statistical mechanics, mathematical methods, and quantum computation. He has published more than 60 research articles, and has given more than 100 conference presentations; he holds 2 patents.