Related papers: Reflections on Gibbs: From Statistical Physics to …
We consider the system of particles on a finite interval with pair-wise nearest neighbours interaction and external force. This model was introduced by Malyshev to study the flow of charged particles on a rigorous mathematical level. It is…
Colloidal particles are distinguishable. Moreover, their thermodynamic properties are extensive. Statistical Mechanics predicts such behaviour if one accepts that the configurational integral of a system of N colloids must be divided by N!.…
The application of classical methods of statistical mechanics, originally developed by Ludwig Boltzmann in gas dynamics, to the description of social phenomena is a successful story that we try to outline in this paper. On one hand, it is…
Steven Weinberg productive scientific life teaches us many things, one of the most important of which is the power of his example. This essay contains personal reminiscences and a speculation about gravitational wave propagation based on…
Einstein is usually revered as the father of special and general relativity. In this article I demonstrate that he is also the father of Solid State Physics, or even his broader version known as Condensed Matter Physics (including liquids).…
Lev Davidovich Landau was arguably one of the greatest and most versatile physicists. His work spans a very wide range and has had a considerable impact on all areas of physics including condensed matter physics, plasma, high energy and…
To describe the nonequilibrium states of a system we introduce a new thermodynamic parameter - the lifetime (the first passage time) of a system. The statistical distributions that can be obtained out of the mesoscopic description…
This contribution to the book in honour of J.S. Bell will probably differ from the remaining ones, in particular since only a part of it will be devoted to specific technical arguments. In fact I have considered appropriate to share with…
This paper celebrates the remarkable life, science and legacy of Abb\'e Georges Lema\^itre, the Belgian cleric and professor of physics; he was the architect of the fireworks model for the origin of the universe. He died half a century ago,…
Drawing inspiration from transportation theory, in this work we introduce the notions of "well-structured" and "stable" Gibbs states and we investigate their implications for quantum thermodynamics and its resource theory approach via…
Entropic dynamics is a framework in which the laws of dynamics are derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. Its successes include the derivation of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory from probabilistic principles.…
In contrast to classical physics, the language of quantum mechanics involves operators and wave functions (or, more generally, density operators). However, in 1932, Wigner formulated quantum mechanics in terms of a distribution function…
It will not be an exaggeration to say that R A Fisher is the Albert Einstein of Statistics. He pioneered almost all the main branches of statistics, but it is not as well known that he opened the area of Directional Statistics with his 1953…
As the title says we want to answer the question; how and why does statistical mechanics work? As we know from the most used prescription of Gibbs we calculate the phase space averages of dynamical quantities and we find that these phase…
Gibbs paradox in the context of statistical mechanics addresses the issue of additivity of entropy of mixing gases. The usual discussion attributes the paradoxical situation to classical distinguishability of identical particles and credits…
We recall Dirac's early proposals to develop a description of quantum phenomena in terms of a non-commutative algebra in which he suggested a way to construct what he called `quantum trajectories'. Generalising these ideas, we show how they…
Passivity is a fundamental concept that constitutes a necessary condition for any quantum system to attain thermodynamic equilibrium, and for a notion of temperature to emerge. While extensive work has been done that exploits this, the…
A quantum system coupled to a bath at some fixed, finite temperature converges to its Gibbs state. This thermalization process defines a natural, physically-motivated model of quantum computation. However, whether quantum computational…
In this document, we aim to gather various results related to a compositional/categorical approach to rigorous Statistical Mechanics. Rigorous Statistical Mechanics is centered on the mathematical study of statistical systems. Central…
These notes have been written to complete a mini-course "Introduction to (generalized) Gibbs measures" given at the universities UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil) and UFRGS (Universidade Federal do Rio…