A Modern Course in Statistical Physics, Paperback

A Modern Course in Statistical Physics is a textbook that illustrates the foundations of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, and the universal nature of thermodynamic processes, from the point of view of contemporary research problems.

The book treats such diverse topics as the microscopic theory of critical phenomena, superfluid dynamics, quantum conductance, light scattering, transport processes, and dissipative structures, all in the framework of the foundations of statistical physics and thermodynamics. It shows the quantum origins of problems in classical statistical physics. 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 extends the range of topics considered to include, for example, entropic forces, electrochemical processes in biological systems and batteries, adsorption processes in biological systems, diamagnetism, the theory of Bose-Einstein condensation, memory effects in Brownian motion, the hydrodynamics of binary mixtures.

A set of exercises and problems is to be found at the end of each chapter and, in addition, solutions to a subset of the problems is provided. The appendices cover Exact Differentials, Ergodicity, Number Representation, Scattering Theory, and also a short course on Probability.

Linda E. Reichl is Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin and Co-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 160 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."