Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters and Complexity (Oxford Master Series in Physics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (515 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0198566778 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 376 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-04-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
James P. Sethna is Professor of Physics, Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.. Prof
"A terrific, contemporary and courageous textbook" according to Alex Antonelli. The book Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters and Complexity by James Sethna is excellent. I have used it as the main textbook in my course on Statistical Physics for first year graduate students at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. The students and I liked it very much.I think that the main quality of the book is that it presents Statistical Physics as a very dynamical subject, interconnected with several subjects within physics, as well as. Terrific breadth, but many grains of salt needed I haven't yet had a chance to read this book from cover to cover. However, after several hours with it, some of its strengths and weaknesses became evident. Many of these complement each other.It covers an exciting range of contemporary applications -- take a look at the table of contents. The problems are long, discursive, and even more intriguing than the main text, covering topics like the cosmic microwave background, origami microstructures, Langevin equations, snowflakes, . Daniel A. Beard said Deep, thoughtful, and beautiful introduction to the field. This advanced undergraduate or introductory graduate level text on statistical mechanics is clearly written by a master and perhaps visionary teacher. Statistical mechanics remains, in my opinion, the only truly rigorous science of emergent phenomena. As the scientific community in general focuses more on complex systems, it is likely that the techniques developed for the theoretical study of the statistical thermodynamic properties of matter will find widespread applications f
Sethna's book takes this step for statistical mechanics--a field rooted in physics and chemistry whose ideas and methods are now central to information theory, complexity, and modern biology. Aimed at advanced undergraduates and early graduate students in all of these fields, Sethna limits his main presentation to the topics that future mathematicians and biologists, as well as physicists and chemists, will find fascinating and central to their work. The amazing breadth of the field is reflected in the author's large supply of carefully crafted exercises, each an introduction to a whole field of study: everything from chaos through information theory to life at the end of the universe.. In each generation, scientists must redefine their fields: abstracting, simplifying and distilling the previous standard topics to make room for new advances and methods
"It would take quite a long time to list all the interesting subjects treated in this textbook, but overall, this is a very good starting point for an undergraduate student who is interested in pursuing a career in research and wants to have a global idea of the different problems that are currently developed in laboratories."--Mathematical Reviews"Sethna's book provides am important service to students who want to learn modern statistical mechanics."-- Physics Today"An extremely intelligent and elegant introduction to fundamental concepts, well suited for the beginning graduate level."--William Gelbart, University of California at Los Angeles"The author's style, although quite concentrated, is simple to understand, and has many lovely visual examples to accompany formal ideas and concepts, which makes the exposition live and intuitively appealing."--Journal of Statistical Physics