Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics  (English, Undefined, Reif)

Frederick Reif’s Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics focuses on the various concepts and disciplines related to statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and kinetic theory. The author has written the book from a very modern point of view.

Summary of The Book

The contents of Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics have been spread across fifteen chapters. The first chapter concentrates on statistical methods and aims to introduce readers to concepts related to elementary statistics. There are individual examples provided along with each concept. Binomial distribution and the Random Walk have been discussed in detail in this chapter. The second chapter takes a close look at systems of particles, and their statistical descriptions. Chapters three and four deal with statistical thermodynamics and the measurement of macroscopic parameters respectively. Macroscopic thermodynamics and their simple applications have been dealt with in the fifth chapter.

The results and basic methods of statistical mechanics have been well documented in the sixth chapter. Various approximation methods and alternative approaches have been covered in this chapter. In the seventh chapter, the author has focused on statistical mechanics and their applications. The eighth chapter deals with the topic of equilibrium between chemical species or phases. Conditions related to general equilibrium and chemical equilibrium are some of the important issues that have been discussed in detail here. Ideal gases and their quantum statistics find their place in chapter nine. The tenth chapter talks about interacting particles and their systems.

Low temperatures and magnetism are highlighted in the eleventh chapter. The twelfth chapter deals with transport process and its elementary kinetic theory. The relaxation time approximation is covered in chapter thirteen. The fourteenth chapter focuses on transport theory and it’s near exact formulation. The fifteenth chapter, the final one of this detailed book, takes a look at irreversible fluctuations and processes.

About Frederick Reif

Frederick Reif is a well-known American physicist who is noted for having influenced several physicists with his works in the field of economic thermodynamics.

Two of the author’s most well-known books are Statistical Physics: Berkeley Physics Course in SI Units (Volume - 5) and Understanding Basic Mechanics.

Born in 1927 in Austria, the author attended Harvard University where he completed his Physics PhD in 1953. He taught at the University of Chicago and later at the University of California as a professor of physics.