Related papers: Large deviations and the Boltzmann entropy formula
The special relativity laws emerge as one-parameter (light speed) generalizations of the corresponding laws of classical physics. These generalizations, imposed by the Lorentz transformations, affect both the definition of the various…
We summarize the papers published by Einstein in the Annalen der Physik in the years 1902-04 on the derivation of the properties of thermal equilibrium on the basis of the mechanical equations of motion and of the calculus of probabilities.…
Many complex systems are characterized by non-Boltzmann distribution functions of their statistical variables. If one wants to -- justified or not -- hold on to the maximum entropy principle for complex statistical systems (non-Boltzmann)…
Boltzmannian statistical mechanics partitions the phase space of a system into macro-regions, and the largest of these is identified with equilibrium. What justifies this identification? Common answers focus on Boltzmann's combinatorial…
Introducing the Boltzmann distribution very early in a statistical thermodynamics course (in the spirit of Feynmann) has many didactic advantages, in particular that of easily deriving the Gibbs entropy formula. In this note, a short…
The present paper is meant to give a simple introduction to the problem of the connection between microscopic dynamics and statistical laws. For sake of simplicity, we mostly refer to non-dissipative dynamics, since dissipation adds…
We consider a particle moving with equation of motion $\dot x=f(t)$, where $f(t)$ is a random function with statistics which are independent of $x$ and $t$, with a finite drift velocity $v=\langle f\rangle$ and in the presence of a…
General aspects of the Fluctuation-Dissipation Relation (FDR), and Response Theory are considered. After analyzing the conceptual and historical relevance of fluctuations in statistical mechanics, we illustrate the relation between the…
Boltzmann's principle S(E,N,V)=k*ln W(E,N,V) relates the entropy to the geometric area e^{S(E,N,V)} of the manifold of constant energy in the N-body phase space. From the principle all thermodynamics and especially all phenomena of phase…
In the second half of the 19th century, the kinetic theory of gases has probably raised one of the most impassioned debates in the history of science. The so-called reversibility paradox around which intense polemics occurred reveals the…
These notes give a summary of techniques used in large deviation theory to study the fluctuations of time-additive quantities, called dynamical observables, defined in the context of Langevin-type equations, which model equilibrium and…
The linear Einstein-Boltzmann equations describe the evolution of perturbations in the universe and its numerical solutions play a central role in cosmology. We revisit this system of differential equations and present a detailed…
The division by N! in the expression of statistical entropy is usually justified to students by the statement that classical particles should be counted as indistinguishable. Sometimes, quantum indistinguishability is invoked to explain it.…
One of the main contributions of this paper is to illustrate how large deviation theory can be used to determine the equilibrium distribution of a basic droplet model that underlies a number of important models in material science and…
We study the stochastic Allen-Cahn equation driven by a noise term with intensity $\sqrt{\varepsilon}$ and correlation length $\delta$ in two and three spatial dimensions. We study diagonal limits $\delta, \varepsilon \to 0$ and describe…
Deviations from kinetic equilibrium of massive particles caused by the universe expansion are calculated analytically in the Boltzmann approximation. For the case of an energy independent amplitude of elastic scattering, an exact partial…
There is a conception that Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics cannot yield the long tail distribution. This is the justification for the intensive research of nonextensive entropies (i.e. Tsallis entropy and others). Here the error that caused this…
In 1985, Edward Nelson, who formulated the theory of stochastic mechanics, made an interesting remark on Bell's theorem. Nelson analysed the latter in the light of classical fields that behave randomly. He found that if a stochastic hidden…
A large deviation principle is derived for stochastic partial differential equations with slow-fast components. The result shows that the rate function is exactly that of the averaged equation plus the fluctuating deviation which is a…
We discuss the Donsker-Varadhan theory of large deviations in the framework of Hamiltonian systems thermostated by a Gaussian stochastic coupling. We derive a general formula for the Donsker-Varadhan large deviation functional for dynamics…