Foundations of statistical mechanics

Frigg, Roman ORCID: 0000-0003-0812-0907 and Werndl, Charlotte (2024) Foundations of statistical mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. ISBN 9781009468237

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Abstract

Statistical mechanics is the third pillar of modern physics, next to quantum theory and relativity theory. It aims to account for the behaviour of macroscopic systems in terms of the dynamical laws that govern their microscopic constituents and probabilistic assumptions about them. In this Element, the authors investigate the philosophical and foundational issues that arise in SM. The authors introduce the two main theoretical approaches in SM, Boltzmannian SM and Gibbsian SM, and discuss how they conceptualise equilibrium and explain the approach to it. In doing so, the authors examine how probabilities are introduced into the theories, how they deal with irreversibility, how they understand the relation between the micro and the macro level, and how the two approaches relate to each other. Throughout, the authors also pinpoint open problems that can be subject of future research. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Item Type:	Book
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) H Social Sciences > HA Statistics
Date Deposited:	05 Jan 2024 10:15
Last Modified:	01 Apr 2024 07:52
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121176

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