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Statistical Physics

Statistical physics uses probability theory and statistics to solve physical problems involving large populations that have an inherently stochastic nature. It provides a framework for relating microscopic properties of individual atoms and molecules to macroscopic bulk properties observable in everyday life, thereby explaining thermodynamics as a natural result of underlying microscopic statistical mechanics, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics. Statistical mechanics develops phenomenological results of thermodynamics from a probabilistic examination of microscopic systems.

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99 views

Statistical Physics

Statistical physics uses probability theory and statistics to solve physical problems involving large populations that have an inherently stochastic nature. It provides a framework for relating microscopic properties of individual atoms and molecules to macroscopic bulk properties observable in everyday life, thereby explaining thermodynamics as a natural result of underlying microscopic statistical mechanics, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics. Statistical mechanics develops phenomenological results of thermodynamics from a probabilistic examination of microscopic systems.

Uploaded by

Dexter
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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tatistical physics

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Statistical physics is a branch of physics that uses methods of probability


theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large
populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide
variety of fields with an inherently stochastic nature. Its applications include many
problems in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and even some
social sciences, such as sociology[1] and linguistics.[2] Its main purpose is to clarify the
properties of matter in aggregate, in terms of physical laws governing atomic motion. [3]
In particular, statistical mechanics develops the phenomenological results
of thermodynamics from a probabilistic examination of the underlying microscopic
systems. Historically, one of the first topics in physics where statistical methods were
applied was the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or
objects when subjected to a force.

Contents

 1Statistical mechanics
o 1.1Quantum statistical mechanics
 2Scientists and universities
 3Achievements
 4See also
 5Notes
 6References
 7Further reading

Statistical mechanics[edit]
Statistical mechanics

 Thermodynamics
 Kinetic theory
Particle statistics[show]

Thermodynamic ensembles[show]

Models[show]

Potentials[show]

Scientists[show]

 v
 t
 e
Main article: Statistical mechanics
Statistical mechanics provides a framework for relating the microscopic properties of
individual atoms and molecules to the macroscopic or bulk properties of materials that
can be observed in everyday life, therefore explaining thermodynamics as a natural
result of statistics, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics at the microscopic
level. Because of this history, statistical physics is often considered synonymous with
statistical mechanics or statistical thermodynamics.[note 1]
One of the most important equations in statistical mechanics (akin to  in Newtonian
mechanics, or the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics) is the definition of
the partition function , which is essentially a weighted sum of all possible
states  available to a system.
where  is the Boltzmann constant,  is temperature and  is energy of state .
Furthermore, the probability of a given state, , occurring is given by
Here we see that very-high-energy states have little probability of occurring, a
result that is consistent with intuition.
A statistical approach can work well in classical systems when the number
of degrees of freedom (and so the number of variables) is so large that the exact
solution is not possible, or not really useful. Statistical mechanics can also
describe work in non-linear dynamics, chaos theory, thermal physics, fluid
dynamics (particularly at high Knudsen numbers), or plasma physics.
Although some problems in statistical physics can be solved analytically using
approximations and expansions, most current research utilizes the large
processing power of modern computers to simulate or approximate solutions. A
common approach to statistical problems is to use a Monte Carlo simulation to
yield insight into the properties of a complex system.
Quantum statistical mechanics[edit]
Quantum statistical mechanics is statistical mechanics applied to quantum
mechanical systems. In quantum mechanics a statistical ensemble (probability
distribution over possible quantum states) is described by a density operator S,
which is a non-negative, self-adjoint, trace-class operator of trace 1 on
the Hilbert space H describing the quantum system. This can be shown under
various mathematical formalisms for quantum mechanics. One such formalism is
provided by quantum logic.

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