Statistical Mechanics Made Simple: A Guide for Students and Researchers [Hardcover]

Daniel Charles Mattis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9812381651 | ISBN-13: 978-9812381651 | Publication Date: March 31, 2003

This text is an elaboration of the author's lecture notes on a graduate course in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The original notes supplemented topics lacking in traditional texts. In its present augmented version the text may be used as the sole or primary text in a one-semester course in thermodynamics/statistical mechanics or as an adjunct text in a two-semester course. Statistical mechanics is the application of physics or chemistry at finite temperature T and can encompass as many topics involving these disciplines as one wishes. This work is intended to respond to the curiosity of the reader about fundamental principles. It shows in detail how one solves the problems that arise in connection with these principles. There are some 50 problems scattered throughout the text and a similar number of illustrations. All the mathematics is self-contained, including the development of field-theoretic methods in the later, more difficult, chapters. The emphasis is not just on the topics, but on the mathematics used to understand them and on the methods of solution. The volume starts by answering the following questions: Where does thermodynamics "come from"? What is temperature and how might one achieve negative temperatures (metastable states) for interacting spins? What are the various free energies and how do they differ? What is an equation of state and what is the nature of thermodynamic phase transitions? Why does the modern theory of critical-point phenomena disagree with van der Waals' original Law of Corresponding States? The text also includes a number of nonstandard topics, such as the exact construction of the thermodynamic properties in one-dimensional systems and the generalization to "transfermatrices" with which to solve for the free energy and correlations in translationally invariant systems of all sorts. It provides the exact solution to a model Boltzmann equation for the electrical conductivity of a metal or semiconductor -thereby pinpointing the sources of Joule heating. There are sections on the propagation and dissipation of sound waves in a fluid, obtained by finding the solutions to the same linearized Boltzmann equation in the representation of eigenstates of the two-body collision operator. In fact, the use of operators and operator algebra to solve coupled linear equations is a main characteristic of this book. One obvious application is to superfluidity and superconductivity. In addition to the Bogoliubov treatment of the weakly interacting Bose gas, the author also demonstrates the Feynman-Cohen semiphenomenological theory. He considers superconductivity both thermodynamically and from the microscopic point of view of BCS theory. He uses the quantum field theory of Doi to model the "master equation" for diffusion-limited chemical reactions and uses the solutions to calculate the various rates and other properties. He discusses the Mermin-Wagner-Hohenberg theorem, which precludes long-range order in low-dimensional systems. Finally, he derives the thermodynamic Green functions and their equations of motion and apply them to glassy and amorphous materials. This allows a fairly detailed resolution of the well-known conundrum: Why does the T3 heat capacity of crystalline materials suddenly become linear in T when applied to glass, and what happens to the propagation of long-wavelength sound in the glassy material?

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Readership: Upper level undergraduates, graduate students, academics and researchers in statistical physics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (March 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812381651
• ISBN-13: 978-9812381651
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,877,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just to clarify, June 21, 2006

By 

Daniel Mendes "scale simetry" (Rio de Janeiro, BR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Statistical Mechanics Made Simple: A Guide for Students and Researchers (Paperback)

I consider this book a very readable book, not from a genius, but a good book.
The problem with the people who rated it very bad is: They don't know what "statistical mechanics" means. To begin with statistical mechanis surely you have to know thermodynamics and physics. It's usual to study thermodynamics and "Statistical physics" as undergraduates and "Statistical mechanics" as graduates. Its just a nomenclature. But it helps to choose the books.
I rated it five starts just to bring the mean a good number of stars... This book has a heavy dispersion :)

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, March 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Statistical Mechanics Made Simple: A Guide for Students and Researchers (Hardcover)

I'm sorry to say it, but the title of this book is misleading. The only way this book would be simple for you is if you have had a moderate class in probability and have had plenty of previous study in thermodynamics and physics. This book is definitely not for beginners.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not simple at all!, February 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Statistical Mechanics Made Simple: A Guide for Students and Researchers (Paperback)

I bought this book after I saw an advertisement in Physics today. While I cannot judge whether it is a good book for people who are already deep into the subject, it is definitely not a book for beginners or intermediates. For the latter I would recommend Chandler or Hill.