Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics （统计热力学概论）.pdf

Cryocourse 2011 – Chichilianne Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics Henri GODFRIN CNRS Institut Néel Grenoble rs.fr/ Josiah Willard Gibbs worked on statistical mechanics, laying a foundation and providing a mathematical framework for quantum theory and for Maxwells theories. He wrote classic textbooks on statistical mechanics, which Yale published in 1902. Recognition was slow in coming, in part because Gibbs published mainly in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences *. At first, only a few European theoretical physicists and chemists, such as the Scot James Clerk Maxwell, paid any attention to his work. Only when Gibbss papers were translated into German (then the leading language for chemistry) by Wilhelm Ostwald in 1892, and into French by Henri Louis le Chatelier in 1899, did his ideas receive wide currency in Europe. * In modern language: a low Impact factor journal… I) General introduction 1) Study of a system with a very large number of particles N. Examples: solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, magnetic systems, chemical and biological systems… Even if the interaction potentials are known, it is impossible to solve the problem for large N Statistical mechanics allows to predict the behaviour of such systems 2) Definitions: a) Microscopic system: atomic dimensions (~ nm) b) Macroscopic system: contains a large number of particles N (size 1 nm). It is characterised by macroscopic parameters (P, V, κ , C , etc…). If