Readings and Misreadings of J. Willard Gibbs Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
J. Willard Gibbs' Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics was the definitive work of one of America's greatest physicists. Gibbs' book on statistical mechanics establishes the basic principles and fundamental results that have flowered into the modern field of statistical mechanics. However, at a number of points, Gibbs' teachings on statistical mechanics diverge from positions on the canonical ensemble found in more recent works, at points where seemingly there should be agreement. The objective of this paper is to note some of these points, so that Gibbs' actual positions are not misrepresented to future generations of students.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1706.01500,
title = {Readings and Misreadings of J. Willard Gibbs Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics},
author = {George D. J. Phillies},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1706.01500},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
11 pages, no figures. This is a major revision of the prior version. For the prior version, I received from a particular journal a truly magnificent four-page referee report correctly raising all sorts of issues. I by and by did the requested revisions, as seen here