Statistical Mechanics

by Paul D. Beale

Overview

'This is an excellent book from which to learn the methods and results of statistical mechanics.' Nature 'A well written graduate-level text for scientists and engineers... Highly recommended for graduate-level libraries.' Choice


This highly successful text, which first appeared in the year 1972 and has continued to be popular ever since, has now been brought up-to-date by incorporating the remarkable developments in the field of 'phase transitions and critical phenomena' that took place over the intervening years. This has been done by adding three new chapters (comprising over 150 pages and containing over 60 homework problems) which should enhance the usefulness of the book for both students and instructors. We trust that this classic text, which has been widely acclaimed for its clean derivations and clear explanations, will continue to provide further generations of students a sound training in the methods of statistical physics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780080541716
Publisher:	Butterworth-Heinemann
Publication date:	09/12/1996
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	576
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Paul D. Beale is a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. He earned a B.S. in Physics with Highest Honors at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1977, and Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1982. He served as a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University from 1982-1984. He joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder in 1984 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1991, and professor in 1997. He served as the Chair of the Department of Physics from 2008-2016. He also served as Associate Dean for Natural Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Honors Program. He is currently Director of the Buffalo Bicycle Classic, the largest scholarship fundraising event in the State of Colorado. Beale is a theoretical physicist specializing in statistical mechanics, with emphasis on phase transitions and critical phenomena. His work includes renormalization group methods, finite-size scaling in spin models, fracture modes in random materials, dielectric breakdown in metal-loaded dielectrics, ferroelectric switching dynamics, exact solutions of the finite two-dimensional Ising model, solid-liquid phase transitions of molecular systems, and ordering in layers of molecular dipoles. His current interests include scalable parallel pseudorandom number generators, and interfacing quantum randomness with cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generators. He is coauthor with Raj Pathria of the third and fourth editions of the graduate physics textbook Statistical Mechanics. The Boulder Faculty Assembly has honored him with the Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy Award, and the Excellence in Service and Leadership Award. Beale is a private pilot and an avid cyclist. He is married to Erika Gulyas, and has two children: Matthew and Melanie.

Table of Contents

Historical introduction; The statistical basis of thermodynamics; Elements of the ensemble theory; The canonical ensemble; The grand canonical ensemble; Formulation of quantum statistics; The theory of simple gases; Ideal Bose systems; Ideal Fermi systems; Statistical mechanics of interacting systems: The method of cluster explansions, the method of quantized fields; Phase transitions: critically, universality and scaling, exact (or almost exact) results for the various models, the renormalization group approach; Fluctuations.

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From the Publisher

Check out the companion website: http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9780123821881and the Instructor website: http://textbooks.elsevier.com/web/manuals.aspx?isbn=9780123821881

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent graduate-level text. The selection of topics is very complete and gives to the student a wide view of the applications of statistical mechanics. The set problems reinforce the theory exposed in the text, helping the student to master the material" —Francisco Cevantes, University of Texas at El Paso, USA

From the Publisher