vi
Preface
Chapter 3 introduces and illustrates the main statistical ensembles that are
employed in treating thermodynamic systems, while Chap. 4 makes the relevant
general connections between statistical values and a number of thermodynamic
functions and concepts.
Chapter 5 focuses upon atomic systems and examines the contributions to
thermodynamic functions and properties associated with the various degrees of
freedom possessed by individual atoms. This chapter also considers an ensemble
of simple harmonic oscillators and its application to obtain expressions for the heat
capacities of crystalline monatomic solids.
The focus of Chap. 6 is upon molecular systems, and it examines the contributions to thermodynamic functions and properties associated with the various
degrees of freedom possessed by individual molecules. This chapter also includes a
discussion of intensity alternations in molecular spectra that arise because of nuclear
interchange symmetry in highly symmetric molecules.
Chapter 7 covers the employment of classical statistical mechanics to extend
the thermodynamics of gaseous systems beyond the ideal gas limit using the virial
equation of state and includes discussion of the Liouville and Boltzmann equations
that provide a lead-in to nonequilibrium phenomena.
Chapter 8 extends thermodynamics to include electric and magnetic effects in
polarizable media. Thorough treatments are given of the thermodynamics of spin
systems and magnetic susceptibilities of paramagnetic salts. An introduction to
ferromagnetism and the Ising model is also provided.
Chapter 9 briefly discusses chemical equilibrium and the activated complex
model for chemical kinetics.
Chapter 10 deals with the quantum statistics associated with the behaviours of
systems of fermions (with half-odd-integer spins) and bosons (with zero and integer
spins). Specifically, quantum statistics is applied to fermion systems, such as the
3 He isotope and electrons in metals or semiconductors, and to boson systems, such
as the 4 He isotope and photons. The chapter concludes with a brief introduction to
the density matrix.
Seven appendices covering the aspects of combinatorial analysis, multivariate
calculus and infinite series, the Stirling approximation, atomic and molecular term
symbols, spherical and symmetric top molecules, and reviews of relevant solid state
and Hamiltonian mechanics that may prove useful to readers have been developed
for completeness.
Although this book deals only with a small fraction of equilibrium statistical
mechanics, its aim has been to provide a preparation that will suffice for further
adventures into this exciting realm of science. The material covered here is
fairly traditional, and bits of it can be found in many texts written around the
subject. Two aspects of the subject matter covered in this introduction to statistical
thermodynamics are (1) to provide ‘derivations’ of the laws of thermodynamics
and (2) to provide an introduction to the important areas of Fermi–Dirac and Bose–
Einstein statistics that necessarily play roles at the level of nanoscale systems, where
quantum mechanics reigns.
Preface
Chapter 3 introduces and illustrates the main statistical ensembles that are
employed in treating thermodynamic systems, while Chap. 4 makes the relevant
general connections between statistical values and a number of thermodynamic
functions and concepts.
Chapter 5 focuses upon atomic systems and examines the contributions to
thermodynamic functions and properties associated with the various degrees of
freedom possessed by individual atoms. This chapter also considers an ensemble
of simple harmonic oscillators and its application to obtain expressions for the heat
capacities of crystalline monatomic solids.
The focus of Chap. 6 is upon molecular systems, and it examines the contributions to thermodynamic functions and properties associated with the various
degrees of freedom possessed by individual molecules. This chapter also includes a
discussion of intensity alternations in molecular spectra that arise because of nuclear
interchange symmetry in highly symmetric molecules.
Chapter 7 covers the employment of classical statistical mechanics to extend
the thermodynamics of gaseous systems beyond the ideal gas limit using the virial
equation of state and includes discussion of the Liouville and Boltzmann equations
that provide a lead-in to nonequilibrium phenomena.
Chapter 8 extends thermodynamics to include electric and magnetic effects in
polarizable media. Thorough treatments are given of the thermodynamics of spin
systems and magnetic susceptibilities of paramagnetic salts. An introduction to
ferromagnetism and the Ising model is also provided.
Chapter 9 briefly discusses chemical equilibrium and the activated complex
model for chemical kinetics.
Chapter 10 deals with the quantum statistics associated with the behaviours of
systems of fermions (with half-odd-integer spins) and bosons (with zero and integer
spins). Specifically, quantum statistics is applied to fermion systems, such as the
3 He isotope and electrons in metals or semiconductors, and to boson systems, such
as the 4 He isotope and photons. The chapter concludes with a brief introduction to
the density matrix.
Seven appendices covering the aspects of combinatorial analysis, multivariate
calculus and infinite series, the Stirling approximation, atomic and molecular term
symbols, spherical and symmetric top molecules, and reviews of relevant solid state
and Hamiltonian mechanics that may prove useful to readers have been developed
for completeness.
Although this book deals only with a small fraction of equilibrium statistical
mechanics, its aim has been to provide a preparation that will suffice for further
adventures into this exciting realm of science. The material covered here is
fairly traditional, and bits of it can be found in many texts written around the
subject. Two aspects of the subject matter covered in this introduction to statistical
thermodynamics are (1) to provide ‘derivations’ of the laws of thermodynamics
and (2) to provide an introduction to the important areas of Fermi–Dirac and Bose–
Einstein statistics that necessarily play roles at the level of nanoscale systems, where
quantum mechanics reigns.