Book Description

This book covers the foundations of classical thermodynamics, with emphasis on the use of differential forms of classical and quantum statistical mechanics, and also on the foundational aspects. In both contexts, a number of applications are considered in detail, such as the general theory of response, correlations and fluctuations, and classical and quantum spin systems. In the quantum case, a self-contained introduction to path integral methods is given. In addition, the book discusses phase transitions and critical phenomena, with applications to the Landau theory and to the Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity, and also to the phenomenon of Bose condensation and of superfluidity. Finally, there is a careful discussion on the use of the renormalization group in the study of critical phenomena.