Statistical Physics: Statics, Dynamics and Renormalization [Paperback]

Leo P. Kadanoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000 | ISBN-10: 9810237642 | ISBN-13: 978-9810237646

The material presented in this textbook has been tested in two courses. One of these is a graduate-level survey of statistical physics; the other, a rather personal perspective on critical behaviour. Thus, this book defines a progression starting at the book-learning part of graduate education and ending in the midst of topics at the research level. To supplement the research-level side the book includes some research papers. Several of these are classics in the field, including a suite of six works on self-organized criticality and complexity, a pair on diffusion-limited aggregation, some papers on correlations near critical points, a few of the basic sources on the development of the real-space renormalization group, and several papers on magnetic behaviour in a plain geometry. In addition, the author has included a few of his own papers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Leo Kadanoff has been a pioneer in the elucidations of cooperative phenomena, in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems. His insights are deep and he expresses them lucidly. This book is full of such goodies and is a pleasure to read and contemplate. Very highly recommended for both experts and novices." Joel L Lebowitz Rutgers University "Leo Kadanoff is one of the deep thinkers in statistical physics and that is apparent on almost every page of his "Statistical Physics: Statics, Dynamics, and Renormalization". This is a mixture of pedagogy, history (including reprints of classical or especially apt papers), and original thoughts, full of wisdom and with many startling insights. It is based in part on lectures Professor Kadanoff has given in graduate courses at the University of Chicago. His students and other attendees were most fortunate; I wish I had been among them!" Benjamin Widom Cornell University "This long-awaited book is an elegant and rather personal account of statistical mechanics that stands out form the pack for many reasons. Not only does it conspicuously emphasize the different treatments afforded to different levels of description, but it also discusses the connection between dynamical systems theory and the foundations of statistical mechanics. Kadanoff's pioneering contributions to phase transitions and the renormalization group are covered in a marvellous retrospective that will be engaging to novice and expert alike. And the book is rounded out with an interesting selection of advanced topics and reprints, that will make it an essential part of a modern graduate course on statistical physics." Nigel Goldenfeld University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign "From a scientist reknown for his work, his lectures and very articulate opinions, this book is a completely new attempt to reconsider the traditional teaching of the whole subject of statistical physics. Avoiding any heavy formalism, Prof Kadanoff has chosen to introduce the main concepts through simple models which are far superior for understanding the subject in real depth. A little more than half of the book is devoted to the theory of phase transitions, a subject which owes so much to the author. Scaling theory and renormalization group are described in a remarkably simple and lucid manner. This book will be greatly enjoyed by its readers, academics and students all together." Edouard Brezin Ecole Normale de Superieure, Paris "Leo Kadanoff's, Statistical Physics: Statistics, Dynamics and Renormalization, offers an exciting new textbook choice for those teaching a course in statistical physics. In many ways the book breaks new ground in presentation, style, and choice of topics. It will be particularly appreciated for its emphasis on providing tools appropriate to the most active and important new research areas in statistical physics ... Kadanoff's lucid exposition and organization are clearly informed by his own unique view of the subject gained from a life-time of creative thought and profound contributions in statistical physics." Ed Ott University of Maryland "... this masterly written book on modern statistical physics by the old master in the field can be highly recommended as an excellent graduate textbook on statistical physics as well as a source on research in this very progressive field of nonlinear science." Mathematics Abstracts "... Statistical Physics is a collection of valuable essays and papers. Both the text and the reprints display Kadanoff's ingenuity, imagination, and clarity. They're worth having and reading." Physics Today, 2001

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9810237642
• ISBN-13: 978-9810237646
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,730,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps to be inproved in subsequent editions, July 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Statistical Physics: Statics, Dynamics and Renormalization (Paperback)

This book is a solid basis for a course in statistical mechanics. Since it was a first edition, there were many typographical errors that made some of the reading a little sketchy in parts. IF you have the patientence to sit down and derive some of the more important results that Kadanoff glosses over, you will greatly benefit from the book. It is a solid book, complete in it's presentation of the material. At time his notation can be a bit unorthordox and can take getting used to, especially for those who are more strict in their "mathematical hygene." One very nice features of the book is that the level of the problems lends themselves very well to a course. In other words an instructor won't have to make up his/her own pwoblems for the most part.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charting the right direction., June 4, 2003

By 

Brandon E. Wolfe (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Statistical Physics: Statics, Dynamics and Renormalization (Paperback)

I would never, ever call this book a 'solid basis' for statistical mechanics--that's Landau, or Sommerfeld.

What Kadanoff does do, like other great theorists, is make the field seem real. For instance, Feynman's diagrams don't add anything new to the mathematics, but they set the idea into focus in a way that makes you think differently about the real world. Before Gell-Mann, chromodynamics was just a mathematical idea: reading him makes you think there's really particles. And who really understood polarization until reading Dirac?

Kadanoff does that for critical phenomena. Even when he covers the material in a uselessly glossy way, he sets the theory on its feet and opens up the idea for more work. I've gotten tons of ideas from reading him.