Statistical Mechanics Principles and Selected A

"Excellent…awelcomeadditiontotheliteratureonthesubject."—Science
Beforethepublicationofthisstandard，oft-citedbook，therewerefewifanystatistical-mechanicstextsthatincorporatedreviewsofbothfundamentalprinciplesandrecentdevelopmentsinthefield.
Inthisvolume，ProfessorHilloffersjustsuchadualpresentation—ausefulaccountofbasictheoryandofitsapplications，madeaccessibleinacomprehensiveformat.Thebookopenswithconcise，unusuallyclearintroductorychaptersonclassicalstatisticalmechanics，quantumstatisticalmechanicsandtherelationofstatisticalmechanicstothermodynamics.Thenfollowsawide-ranging，detailedexaminationofvariousapplications.Chapter4dealswithfluctuations.Thefifthchaptertreatsthetheoryofimperfectgasesandcondensation，largelyfollowingMayer'stheorybutalsogivingsomenew，alternativederivationsanddiscussinginthefinalsectionYangandLee'stheory.Thesixthchapterisdevotedtoadiscussionofdistributionfunctionsandthetheoryoftheliquidstate.Chapter7dealswithnearest-neighbor(Ising)latticestatistics，whilethelastchapterdiscussesfree-volumeandholetheoriesofliquidsandsolids.
Writtenprimarilyforgraduatestudentsandresearchersinchemistry，physicsandbiologywhoalreadyhavesomeacquaintancewithstatisticalmechanics，thebooklendsitselftouseasatextforasecondcourseinstatisticalmechanics，asasupplementtoafirstcourseorforself-studyorreference.Thelevelisneitherintroductorynorhighlysophisticated;theauthorhasgenerallyemphasizedmaterialthatisnotavailableinotherbooks.Inaddition，selectedbibliographicreferencesattheendofeachchaptersuggestsupplementaryreading.