Making Sense of Statistical Mechanics

Dekorationsartikel gehören nicht zum Leistungsumfang.

Sprache: Englisch

59,30 €

inkl. MwSt.

Versandkostenfrei per Post / DHL

Lieferzeit 4-7 Werktage

Kategorien:

Beschreibung

Many people, including physicists, are confused about what the Second Law of thermodynamics really means, about how it relates to the arrow of time, and about whether it can be derived from classical mechanics. They also wonder what entropy really is: Is it all about information? But, if so, then, what is its relation to fluxes of heat?
One might ask similar questions about probabilities: Do they express subjective judgments by us, humans, or do they reflect facts about the world, i.e. frequencies. And what notion of probability is used in the natural sciences, in particular statistical mechanics?
This book addresses all of these questions in the clear and pedagogical style for which the author is known. Although valuable as accompaniment to an undergraduate course on statistical mechanics or thermodynamics, it is not a standard course book. Instead it addresses both the essentials and the many subtle questions that are usually brushed under the carpet in such courses. As one of the most lucid accounts of the above questions, it provides enlightening reading for all those seeking answers, including students, lecturers, researchers and philosophers of science.

Über den Autor

Jean Bricmont (born in 1952) is a theoretical physicist, and a retired professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He works on statistical and mathematical physics. He is mostly known to the non-academic audience for co-authoring Fashionable Nonsense (also known as Intellectual Impostures) with Alan Sokal, in which they criticize relativism in the philosophy of science. He also published Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Sense and Nonsense with Springer.

Zusammenfassung

Brings clarity to the subtle questions raised by the Second Law of thermodynamics and time's arrow

Provides insights into the relationship between probability and the natural sciences

Explores the various meanings of Entropy

Inhaltsverzeichnis

What We Need from Thermodynamics.- What Are Probabilities?.- Dynamical Systems.- Statistical Mechanics 1 : The Nature of Equilibrium.- Statistical Mechanics 2: Irreversibility.- Demystifying Entropy.- Comparison with Quantum Mechanics.

Details

Erscheinungsjahr:	2022
Fachbereich:	Theoretische Physik
Genre:	Mathematik , Medizin , Naturwissenschaften , Physik , Technik
Rubrik:	Naturwissenschaften & Technik
Medium:	Taschenbuch
Inhalt:	x 368 S. 16 s/w Illustr. 12 farbige Illustr. 368 p. 28 illus. 12 illus. in color.
ISBN-13:	9783030917937
ISBN-10:	3030917932
Sprache:	Englisch
Einband:	Kartoniert / Broschiert
Autor:	Bricmont, Jean
Auflage:	1st edition 2022
Hersteller:	Springer Springer International Publishing AG
Verantwortliche Person für die EU:	Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, D-69121 Heidelberg, juergen.hartmann@springer.com
Maße:	235 x 155 x 21 mm
Von/Mit:	Jean Bricmont
Erscheinungsdatum:	12.02.2022
Gewicht:	0,575 kg