An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics

118 Pages Indexed. Black boards with sliver spine lettering. Penciled prices on front endpaper. No other marks or stamps to this otherwise bright tight book with a faultless interior. This introduction to statistical mechanics is presented for first or second-year graduate students. It is assumed that the reader has an at least qualitative knowledge of quantum mechanics and that he is familar with thermodynamics. Quantum mechanics can be based on essentially one fundamental postulate, which is the Schrodinger equation. Similarly, statistical mechanics can be developed from one basic equation, the master equation, from which one can derive, in principle, all the thermodynamic properties of systems containing a large number of particles. It is possible to deduce the master equation from the Schrodinger equation. This was first done by W. Pauli, and his proof, is given in the appendix. The reader who is familiar with quantum-mechanical perturbation theory, will be able to follow the proof without difficulty. More general derivations exist but they are too involved mathematically to be given in an introductory text. In order to avoid a discussion of purely quantum-mechanical questions, the existence of the master equation is simply postulated, which amounts to replacing a postulate of quantum mechanics by a postulate of statistical mechanics.…