A Modern Course In Statistical Physics 4E

"A Modern Course in Statistical Physics" is a textbook that provides a grounding in the foundations of equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical physics, and focuses on the universal nature of thermodynamic processes. It illustrates fundamental concepts with examples from contemporary research problems.
All classical statistical physics is derived as limiting cases of quantum statistical physics. All in the framework of the foundations of statistical physics and thermodynamics, the book treats such diverse topics as osmosis, steam engines, superfluids, Bose-Einstein condensates, quantum conductance, light scattering, transport processes, and dissipative structures, all in the framework of the foundations of statistical physics and thermodynamics. One focus of the book is fluctuations that occur due to the discrete nature of matter, a topic of growing importance for nanometer scale physics and biophysics. Another focus concerns classical and quantum phase transitions, in both monatomic and mixed particle systems.

This fourth edition includes a survey of new developments in statistical physics, covering latest methods of quantum statistical mechanics and modern formulations arising from quantum field theory. Newest findings on thermalization and equilibration of many-body quantum systems are integrated, as well as modern aspects of turbulent hydrodynamic flow and recently established fluctuation theorems.

A set of exercises and problems is to be found at the end of each chapter. The appendices cover Exact Differencitals, Ergodicity, Number Representation, Scattering Theore, and almost a short course on Probability.

Linda E. Reichl is Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin and Director of the Center for Complex Quantum Systems. Her research ranges over a number of topics in statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics. They include quantum transport theory, Brownian motion, quantum, classical and stochastic chaos theory, quantum control of atomic and cold atomic systems, and the conductance and spectral properties of open quantum systems. Professor Reichl has published more than 140 research papers, two books, A Modern Course in Statistical Physics and The Transition to Chaos, each of which have appeared in several editions. In 2000, she was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society "for her original contributions to the field of quantum chaos."