This introductory graduate-level text emphasizes physical aspects of the theory of Boltzmann's equation in a detailed presentation that doubles as a practical resource for professionals. 1971 edition.

This is a collection of four lectures on some mathematical aspects related to the nonlinear Boltzmann equation. The following topics are dealt with: derivation of kinetic equations, qualitative analysis of the initial value problem, singular perturbation analysis towards the hydrodynamic limit and computational methods towards the solution of problems in fluid dynamics.

This book covers classical kinetic theory of gases, presenting basic principles in a self-contained framework and from a more rigorous approach based on the Boltzmann equation. Uses methods in kinetic theory for determining the transport coefficients of gases.

Statistical mechanics may be naturally divided into two branches, one dealing with equilibrium systems, the other with nonequilibrium systems. The equilibrium properties of macroscopic systems are defined in principle by suitable averages in well-defined Gibbs's ensembles. This provides a frame work for both qualitative understanding and quantitative approximations to equilibrium behaviour. Nonequilibrium phenomena are much less understood at the present time. A notable exception is offered by the case of dilute gases. Here a basic equation was established by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1872. The Boltzmann equation still forms the basis for the kinetic theory of gases and has proved fruitful not only for a study of the classical gases Boltzmann had in mind but also, properly generalized, for studying electron transport in solids and plasmas, neutron transport in nuclear reactors, phonon transport in superfluids, and radiative transfer in planetary and stellar atmospheres. Research in both the new fields and the old one has undergone a considerable advance in the last thirty years.

This brief book introduces the Poisson-Boltzmann equation in three chapters that build upon one another, offering a systematic entry to advanced students and researchers. Chapter one formulates the equation and develops the linearized version of Debye-Hückel theory as well as exact solutions to the nonlinear equation in simple geometries and generalizations to higher-order equations. Chapter two introduces the statistical physics approach to the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. It allows the treatment of fluctuation effects, treated in the loop expansion, and in a variational approach. First applications are treated in detail: the problem of the surface tension under the addition of salt, a classic problem discussed by Onsager and Samaras in the 1930s, which is developed in modern terms within the loop expansion, and the adsorption of a charged polymer on a like-charged surface within the variational approach. Chapter three finally discusses the extension of Poisson-Boltzmann theory to explicit solvent. This is done in two ways: on the phenomenological level of nonlocal electrostatics and with a statistical physics model that treats the solvent molecules as molecular dipoles. This model is then treated in the mean-field approximation and with the variational method introduced in Chapter two, rounding up the development of the mathematical approaches of Poisson-Boltzmann theory. After studying this book, a graduate student will be able to access the research literature on the Poisson-Boltzmann equation with a solid background.

The structure of the theory ofthermodynamics has changed enormously since its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century. Shortly after Thomson and Clausius enunciated their versions of the Second Law, Clausius, Maxwell, and Boltzmann began actively pursuing the molecular basis of thermo dynamics, work that culminated in the Boltzmann equation and the theory of transport processes in dilute gases. Much later, Onsager undertook the elucidation of the symmetry oftransport coefficients and, thereby, established himself as the father of the theory of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Com bining the statistical ideas of Gibbs and Langevin with the phenomenological transport equations, Onsager and others went on to develop a consistent statistical theory of irreversible processes. The power of that theory is in its ability to relate measurable quantities, such as transport coefficients and thermodynamic derivatives, to the results of experimental measurements. As powerful as that theory is, it is linear and limited in validity to a neighborhood of equilibrium. In recent years it has been possible to extend the statistical theory of nonequilibrium processes to include nonlinear effects. The modern theory, as expounded in this book, is applicable to a wide variety of systems both close to and far from equilibrium. The theory is based on the notion of elementary molecular processes, which manifest themselves as random changes in the extensive variables characterizing a system. The theory has a hierarchical character and, thus, can be applied at various levels of molecular detail.

This book contains several introductory texts concerning the main directions in the theory of evolutionary partial differential equations. The main objective is to present clear, rigorous, and in depth surveys on the most important aspects of the present theory.

Equilibrium and Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics is a source-book of great value to college and university students embarking upon a serious reading of Statistical Mechanics, and is likely to be of interest to teachers of the subject as well. Written in a lucid style, the book builds up the subject from basics, and goes on to quite advanced and modern developments, giving an overview of the entire framework of statistical mechanics. The equilibrium ensembles of quantum and classical statistical mechanics are introduced at length, indicating their relation to equilibrium states of thermodynamic systems, and the applications of these ensembles in the case of the ideal gas are worked out, pointing out the relevance of the ideal gas in respect of a number of real-life systems. The application to interacting systems is then taken up by way of explaining the virial expansion of a dilute gas. The book then deals with a number of foundational questions relating to the existence of the thermodynamic limit and to the equivalence of the various equilibrium ensembles. The relevance of the thermodynamic limit in explaining phase transitions is indicated with reference to the Yang-Lee theory and the Kirkwood-Salsburg equations for correlation functions. The statistical mechanics of interacting systems is then taken up again, with reference to the 1D and 2D Ising model and to the spin glass model of disordered systems. Applications of the Mean field theory are worked out, explaining the Landau-Ginzburg theory, which is then followed by the renormalization group approach to phase transitions. Interacting systems in the quantum context are referred to, addressing separately the cases of interacting bosons and fermions. The case of the weakly interacting bosons is explained in details, while the Landau theory for fermi liquids is also explained in outline. The book then goes on to a modern but readable account of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, explaining the link with irreversible thermodynamcs. After an exposition of the Boltzmann equations and the linear response theory illustrated with reference to the hydrodynamic model, it explains the statistical mechanics of reduced systems, in the context of a number of reduction schemes. This is followed by an account of the relevance of dynamical chaos in laying down the foundations of classical statistical mechanics, where the SRB distributon is introduced in the context of non-equilibrium steady states, with reference to which the principle of minimum entropy production is explaned. A number of basic fluctuation relations are then worked out, pointing out their relation to irreversible thermodynamics. Finally, the book explains the relevance of quantum chaos in addressing foundational issues in quantum statistical mechanics, beginning with Berry’s conjecture and then going on to an exposition of the eigenstate thermalization (ETH) hypothesis, indicating how the latter is relevant in explaining the processes of equilibriation and thermalization in thermodynamic systems and their sub-systems.