This book presents a variety of techniques for tackling phenomena that are not amenable to the conventional approach based on the concept of probabilities. The methods described rely on the use of path integration, thermal Green functions, time-temperature propagators, Liouville operators, second quantization, and field correlators at finite density and temperature. Also exploring the statistical mechanics of unstable quantum systems, the book is intended as a supplementary or reference text for use in one-semester graduate courses on Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, and Mathematical Methods in Physics.

Autorentext

Dr. Osvaldo Civitarese is an Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of La Plata, Argentina. He is an expert in nuclear structure and neutrino physics. During his tenure, he gave lectures in statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and nuclear structure. He has published more than 300 research papers, 50 conference articles, and one book on modern physics for undergraduate students. He got national and international awards like the J. S. Guggenheim Foundation prize. He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Science and a former Alexander von Humboldt fellow.

Dr. Manuel Gadella is a Professor of Physics at the University of Valladolid, Spain. He is an expert in mathematical physics. He is author of about 150 research papers and two books for undergraduate students. In collaboration with Prof. Arno Bohm (University of Texas at Austin), he wrote the book entitled "Dirac kets, Gamow vectors and Gelfand triplets" published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Physics.

Inhalt

An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics.- The Role of Dynamics in Statistical Mechanics.- Operator Representations of Statistical Mechanics.- Path Integrals and Applications.- The Liouville Equation.-Canonical Distributions and Thermodynamic Functions.- The Statistical Mechanics of Unstable Quantum States.