This second edition extends and improves on the first, already an acclaimed and original treatment of statistical concepts insofar as they impact theoretical physics and form the basis of modern thermodynamics. This book illustrates through myriad examples the principles and logic used in extending the simple laws of idealized Newtonian physics and quantum physics into the real world of noise and thermal fluctuations.In response to the many helpful comments by users of the first edition, important features have been added in this second, new and revised edition. These additions allow a more coherent picture of thermal physics to emerge. Benefiting from the expertise of the new co-author, the present edition includes a detailed exposition — occupying two separate chapters — of the renormalization group and Monte-Carlo numerical techniques, and of their applications to the study of phase transitions. Additional figures have been included throughout, as have new problems. A new Appendix presents fully worked-out solutions to representative problems; these illustrate various methodologies that are peculiar to physics at finite temperatures, that is, to statistical physics.This new edition incorporates important aspects of many-body theory and of phase transitions. It should better serve the contemporary student, while offering to the instructor a wider selection of topics from which to craft lectures on topics ranging from thermodynamics and random matrices to thermodynamic Green functions and critical exponents, from the propagation of sound in solids and fluids to the nature of quasiparticles in quantum liquids and in transfer matrices.

Elementary concepts in statistics and probability - The ising model and the lattice gas - Elements of thermodynamics - Statistical mechanics - The world of bosons - All about fermions : theories of metals, superconductors, semiconductors - Kinetic theory - The transfer matrix - Some uses of quantum field theory in statistical physics.

Statistics links microscopic and macroscopic phenomena, and requires for this reason a large number of microscopic elements like atoms. The results are values of maximum probability or of averaging. This introduction to statistical physics concentrates on the basic principles and attempts to explain these in simple terms, supplemented by numerous examples. These basic principles include the difference between classical and quantum statistics, a priori probabilities as related to degeneracies, the vital aspect of indistinguishability as compared with distinguishability in classical physics, the differences between conserved and non-conserved elements, the different ways of counting arrangements in the three statistics (Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, Bose-Einstein), the difference between maximization of the number of arrangements of elements, and averaging in the Darwin-Fowler method. Significant applications to solids, radiation and electrons in metals are treated in separate chapters, as well as Bose-Einstein condensation. In this latest edition, apart from a general revision, the topic of thermal radiation has been expanded with a new section on black bodies and an additional chapter on black holes. Other additions are more examples with applications of statistical mechanics in solid state physics and superconductivity. Throughout the presentation, the introduction carries almost all details for calculations.

The Luttinger Model is the only model of many-fermion physics with legitimate claims to be both exactly and completely solvable. In several respects it plays the same role in many-body theory as does the 2D Ising model in statistical physics. Interest in the Luttinger model has increased steadily ever since its introduction half a century ago. The present volume starts with reprints of the seminal papers in which it was originally introduced and solved, and continues with several contributions setting out the landscape of the principal advances of the last fifty years and of prominent new directions.

Random matrix theory, both as an application and as a theory, has evolved rapidly over the past fifteen years. Log-Gases and Random Matrices gives a comprehensive account of these developments, emphasizing log-gases as a physical picture and heuristic, as well as covering topics such as beta ensembles and Jack polynomials. Peter Forrester presents an encyclopedic development of log-gases and random matrices viewed as examples of integrable or exactly solvable systems. Forrester develops not only the application and theory of Gaussian and circular ensembles of classical random matrix theory, but also of the Laguerre and Jacobi ensembles, and their beta extensions. Prominence is given to the computation of a multitude of Jacobians; determinantal point processes and orthogonal polynomials of one variable; the Selberg integral, Jack polynomials, and generalized hypergeometric functions; Painlevé transcendents; macroscopic electrostatistics and asymptotic formulas; nonintersecting paths and models in statistical mechanics; and applications of random matrix theory. This is the first textbook development of both nonsymmetric and symmetric Jack polynomial theory, as well as the connection between Selberg integral theory and beta ensembles. The author provides hundreds of guided exercises and linked topics, making Log-Gases and Random Matrices an indispensable reference work, as well as a learning resource for all students and researchers in the field.

Building on the material learned by students in their first few years of study, Topics in Statistical Mechanics (Second Edition) 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. There is a brief revision of non-interacting systems, including quantum gases and a discussion of negative temperatures. Following this, emphasis is on interacting systems. First, weakly interacting systems are considered, where the interest is in seeing how small 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 is given, and these are unified within the Landau theory of phase transitions. The final chapter of the book looks at non-equilibrium systems, in particular the way they evolve towards equilibrium. This is framed within the context of linear response theory. Here fluctuations play a vital role, as is formalised in the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.The second edition has been revised particularly to help students use this book for self-study. In addition, the section on non-ideal gases has been expanded, with a treatment of the hard-sphere gas, and an accessible discussion of interacting quantum gases. In many cases there are details of Mathematica calculations, including Mathematica Notebooks, and expression of some results in terms of Special Functions.

This new version of a classic updates much of the material in earlier editions, including the first chapter, on the history of the field. Important modifications reflect major discoveries of the past decades. A historical perspective is maintained throughout. The reader is drawn into the process of discovery: starting with a phenomenon, finding plausible explanations and competing theories — and finally, the solution.The theory of magnetism is practically a metaphor for theoretical physics. The very first quantum many-body theory (Bethe's ansatz) was devised for magnetic chains, just as mean-field theory was invented a century ago by Weiss to explain Curie's Law.The first two chapters of this book are immensely readable, taking us from prehistory to the “spin valves” of the most recent past. Topics in subsequent chapters include: angular momenta and spin (Chapter 3), quantum theory of simple systems, followed by increasingly technical insights into ordered and random systems, thermal fluctuations, phase transitions, chaos and the like. Contemporary developments in nanotechnology now seek to take advantage of the electron's spin as well as of its charge. The time is not far off when nano-circuits made entirely of silicon exhibit such many-body properties as superconductivity or ferromagnetism — without any superconducting materials or magnetic ions being present. The reader of this book will be prepared for such exotic twenty-first century applications.Daniel C Mattis, BS, MS, PhD, Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), is a frequent lecturer at research institutions and the author of several textbooks and numerous research articles. His expertise includes many-body theory, electrical conductivity, quantum theory of magnetism and most recently, nanotechnology. Prof. Mattis is on the editorial panel for high-temperature superconductivity of the International Journal of Modern Physics B and Modern Physics Letters B, both published by World Scientific. Currently serving as Professor in the Physics department at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, at various times he has been visiting Professor at Yale University (New Haven), State University of New York (Buffalo), Temple University (Philadelphia), and served as “Wei-Lun Visiting Professor” at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A founding member of the “Few-Body Physics” section of the APS, he has also served as Chair of the standing committee of the APS for the “International Freedom of Scientists.”

Thermodynamics has benefited from nearly 100 years of parallel development with quantum mechanics. As a result, thermal physics has been considerably enriched in concepts, technique and purpose, and now has a dominant role in the developments of physics, chemistry and biology. This unique book explores the meaning and application of these developments using quantum theory as the starting point. The book links thermal physics and quantum mechanics in a natural way. Concepts are combined with interesting examples, and entire chapters are dedicated to applying the principles to familiar, practical and unusual situations. Together with end-of-chapter exercises, this book gives advanced undergraduate and graduate students a modern perception and appreciation for this remarkable subject.

This invaluable book explores the delicate interplay between geometry and statistical mechanics in materials such as microemulsions, wetting and growth interfaces, bulk lyotropic liquid crystals, chalcogenide glasses and sheet polymers, using tools from the fields of polymer physics, differential geometry, field theory and critical phenomena. Several chapters have been updated relative to the classic 1989 edition. Moreover, there are now three entirely new chapters — on effects of anisotropy and heterogeneity, on fixed connectivity membranes and on triangulated surface models of fluctuating membranes.

This book covers the foundations of classical thermodynamics, with emphasis on the use of differential forms of classical and quantum statistical mechanics, and also on the foundational aspects. In both contexts, a number of applications are considered in detail, such as the general theory of response, correlations and fluctuations, and classical and quantum spin systems. In the quantum case, a self-contained introduction to path integral methods is given. In addition, the book discusses phase transitions and critical phenomena, with applications to the Landau theory and to the Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity, and also to the phenomenon of Bose condensation and of superfluidity. Finally, there is a careful discussion on the use of the renormalization group in the study of critical phenomena.