Statistical Mechanics Made Easy: A Guide for Students and Researchers

Daniel C. Mattis981238166X, 9789812381668, 9812381651, 9789812381651, 9789812388865

This graduate textbook develops the rudiments of thermodynamics and statistical physics, then describes the quantum statistics of bosons and fermions, the kinetic theory of dilute gases, the transfer matrix applied to the two-dimensional Ising model, and a quantum field theory approach to diffusion-limited chemical reactions.

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Table of contents :
Copyright……Page 1
Contents……Page 3
Preface……Page 7
Introduction……Page 11
1 – Elementary Concepts in Statistics and Probability……Page 15
2 – The Ising Model and the Lattice Gas……Page 31
3 – Elements of Thermodynamics……Page 45
4 – Statistical Mechanics……Page 69
5 – The World of Bosons……Page 97
6 – All About Fermions: Theories of Metals, Superconductors, Semiconductors……Page 133
7 – Kinetic Theory……Page 163
8 – The Transfer Matrix……Page 197
9 – Some Uses of Quantum Field Theory in Statistical Physics……Page 233
Index……Page 259