Sethna, James P.

Statistical mechanics : entropy, order parameters, and complexity - Oxford, Oxford University Press 2006 - 349P:


What is statistical mechanics?
Random walks with emergent properties
Temperature and equilibrium
Phase-space dynamics and ergodicity
Entropy
Free energies
Quantum statistical mechanics
Calculation and computation
Order parameters, broken symmetry, and topology
Correlations, response, and dissipation
Abrupt phase transitions
Continuous phase transitions
Appendix: Fourier methods

Sethna distills the core ideas of statistical mechanics to make room for new advances important to information theory, complexity, and modern biology. He explores everything from chaos through to life at the end of the universe

9780198566779

530.13 / SET