An introduction to statistical mechanics and thermodynamics

Includes index.

Introduction -- The classical ideal gas -- Discrete probability theory -- The classical ideal gas: configurational entropy -- Continuous random numbers -- The classical ideal gas: energy-dependence -- Classical gases: ideal and otherwise -- Temperature, pressure, chemical potential, and all that -- The postulates and laws of thermodynamics -- Perturbations of thermodynamic state functions -- Thermodynamic processes -- Thermodynamic potentials -- The consequences of extensivity -- Thermodynamic identities -- Extremum principles -- Stability conditions -- Phase transitions -- The Nernst postulate: the third law of thermodynamics -- Ensembles in classical statistical mechanics -- Classical ensembles: grand and otherwise -- Irreversibility -- Quantum ensembles -- Quantum canonical ensemble -- Black-body radiation -- The harmonic solid -- Ideal quantum gases -- Bose-Einstein statistics -- Fermi-Dirac statistics -- Insulators and semiconductors -- Phase transitions and the Ising model -- Appendix: computer calculations and VPython.

This text presents statistical mechanics and thermodynamics as a theoretically integrated field of study. It stresses deep coverage of fundamentals, providing a natural foundation for advanced topics--

eng