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For studying the thermodynamic properties of systems using statistical mechanics we propose an ensemble that lies in between the familiar canonical and microcanonical ensembles. From a comparative study of these ensembles we conclude that…
Depending on the exact experimental conditions, the thermodynamic properties of physical systems can be related to one or more thermostatistical ensembles. Here, we survey the notion of thermodynamic temperature in different statistical…
Equilibrium statistics of finite Hamiltonian systems is fundamentally described by the microcanonical ensemble (ME). Canonical, or grand-canonical partition functions are deduced from this by Laplace transform. Only in the thermodynamic…
We investigate the relation between various statistical ensembles of finite systems. If ensembles differ at the level of fluctuations of the order parameter, we show that the equations of states can present major differences. A sufficient…
Due to the equivalence of the statistical ensembles thermostatic properties of physical systems with short-range interactions can be calculated in different ensembles leading to the same physics. In particular, the ensemble equivalence…
We present general and rigorous results showing that the microcanonical and canonical ensembles are equivalent at all three levels of description considered in statistical mechanics - namely, thermodynamics, equilibrium macrostates, and…
The grand canonical ensemble lies at the core of quantum and classical statistical mechanics. A small system thermalizes to this ensemble while exchanging heat and particles with a bath. A quantum system may exchange quantities represented…
Employing different statistical ensembles may lead to qualitatively different results concerning averages of physical observables on the mesoscopic scale. Here we discuss differences between the canonical and the grandcanonical ensembles…
The two-body potential of systems with long-range interactions decays at large distances as $V(r)\sim 1/r^\alpha$, with $\alpha\leq d$, where $d$ is the space dimension. Examples are: gravitational systems, two-dimensional hydrodynamics,…
We consider the statistical mechanics of a small gaseous system subject to a constant external field. As is well known, in the canonical ensemble the system i) obeys a barometric formula for the density profile and ii) the kinetic…
Microcanonical thermodynamics allows the application of statistical mechanics both to finite and even small systems and also to the largest, self-gravitating ones. However, one must reconsider the fundamental principles of statistical…
The microcanonical ensemble is in important physical situations different from the canonical one even in the thermodynamic limit. In contrast to the canonical ensemble it does not suppress spatially inhomogeneous configurations like phase…
The emergence of statistical mechanics from quantum dynamics is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. Deriving observables aligned with the prediction of the canonical ensemble for a quantum system relies on the presence of a bath…
Ensemble inequivalence, i.e. the possibility of observing different thermodynamic properties depending on the statistical ensemble which describes the system, is one of the hallmarks of long-range physics, which has been demonstrated in…
Focusing on isolated macroscopic systems, described either in terms of a quantum mechanical or a classical model, our two key questions are: In how far does an initial ensemble (usually far from equilibrium and largely unknown in detail)…
Thermodynamics and its quantum counterpart are traditionally described with statistical ensembles. Canonical typicality has related statistical mechanics for a system to ensembles of global energy eigen- states of system and its environment…
We compare phase transition(-like) phenomena in small model systems for both microcanonical and canonical ensembles. The model systems correspond to a few classical (non-quantum) point particles confined in a one-dimensional box and…
The microcanonical ensemble has long been a starting point for the development of thermodynamics from statistical mechanics. However, this approach presents two problems. First, it predicts that the entropy is only defined on a discrete set…
Equilibrium statistics of Hamiltonian systems is correctly described by the microcanonical ensemble, whereas canonical ones fail in the most interesting, mostly inhomogeneous, situations like phase separations or away from the thermodynamic…
Microcanonical Thermodynamics allows the application of Statistical Mechanics on one hand to closed finite and even small systems and on the other to the largest,self-gravitating ones. However, one has to reconsider the fundamental…