03508nam 22006135 450 991054486510332120251113182252.09783030917944(electronic bk.)978303091793710.1007/978-3-030-91794-4(MiAaPQ)EBC6887152(Au-PeEL)EBL6887152(CKB)21167321000041(PPN)260827339(OCoLC)1297837174(DE-He213)978-3-030-91794-4(EXLCZ)992116732100004120220211d2022 u| 0engurcnu||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierMaking Sense of Statistical Mechanics /by Jean Bricmont1st ed. 2022.Cham :Springer International Publishing :Imprint: Springer,2022.1 online resource (375 pages)Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics,2192-4805Print version: Bricmont, Jean Making Sense of Statistical Mechanics Cham : Springer International Publishing AG,c2022 9783030917937 Includes bibliographical references and index.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.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.Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics,2192-4805Mathematical physicsThermodynamicsPhysicsPhilosophyTheoretical, Mathematical and Computational PhysicsThermodynamicsPhilosophical Foundations of Physics and AstronomyMathematical physics.Thermodynamics.PhysicsPhilosophy.Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics.Thermodynamics.Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy.530.13530.13Bricmont J(Jean),28555MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQ9910544865103321Making Sense of Statistical Mechanics2762657UNINA