Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Systems with Long Range Interactions


Book Description

Properties of systems with long range interactions are still poorly understood despite being of importance in most areas of physics. The present volume introduces and reviews the effort of constructing a coherent thermodynamic treatment of such systems by combining tools from statistical mechanics with concepts and methods from dynamical systems. Analogies and differences between various systems are examined by considering a large range of applications, with emphasis on Bose--Einstein condensates. Written as a set of tutorial reviews, the book will be useful for both the experienced researcher as well as the nonexpert scientist or postgraduate student.




Complexity, Metastability And Nonextensivity - Proceedings Of The 31st Workshop Of The International School Of Solid State Physics


Book Description

A broad introduction and overview of current interdisciplinary studies on complexity, this volume is an ideal starting point for scientists and graduate students who wish to enter the field. The book features a diverse collection of the latest research work not found in a single volume elsewhere.Among the highly regarded contributors to the volume are the 2004 Boltzmann medalists E G D Cohen and H E Stanley; G Parisi, Boltzmann medalist in 1992 and Dirac medalist in 1999; and numerous internationally renowned experts, such as S Abe, F T Arecchi, J-P Bouchaud, A Coniglio, W Ebeling, P Grigolini, R Mantegna, M Paczuski, A Robledo, L Pietronero, A Vespignani, and T Vicsek.




Statistical Physics


Book Description

This book presents an introduction to the main concepts of statistical physics, followed by applications to specific problems and more advanced concepts, selected for their pedagogical or practical interest. Particular attention has been devoted to the presentation of the fundamental aspects, including the foundations of statistical physics, as well as to the discussion of important physical examples. Comparison of theoretical results with the relevant experimental data (with illustrative curves) is present through the entire textbook. This aspect is facilitated by the broad range of phenomena pertaining to statistical physics, providing example issues from domains as varied as the physics of classical and quantum liquids, condensed matter, liquid crystals, magnetic systems, astrophysics, atomic and molecular physics, superconductivity and many more. This textbook is intended for graduate students (MSc and PhD) and for those teaching introductory or advanced courses on statistical physics. Key Features: A rigorous and educational approach of statistical physics illustrated with concrete examples. A clear presentation of fundamental aspects of statistical physics. Many exercises with detailed solutions. Nicolas Sator is Associate Professor at Sorbonne University, Paris, France. He is a member of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Condensed Matter (LPTMC) and his research focuses on the physics of liquids. Nicolas Pavloff is Professor at Paris-Saclay University, France. He is a member of Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS) and his domain of research is quantum fluid theory. Lénaïc Couëdel is Professor at the University of Sasktchewan, Saskatoon, Canada and researcher at CNRS, France. His research area is plasma physics with a focus on complex plasma crystals.




Nanoscale Thermodynamics


Book Description

This Special Issue concerns the development of a theory for energy conversion on the nanoscale, namely, nanothermodynamics. The theory has been applied to porous media, small surfaces, clusters or fluids under confinement. The number of unsolved issues in these contexts is numerous and the present efforts are only painting part of the broader picture. We attempt to answer the following: How far down in scale does the Gibbs equation apply? Which theory can replace it beyond the thermodynamic limit? It is well known that confinement changes the equation of state of a fluid, but how does confinement change the equilibrium conditions themselves? This Special Issue explores some of the roads that were opened up for us by Hill with the idea of nanothermodynamics. The experimental progress in nanotechnology is advancing rapidly. It is our ambition with this book to inspire an increased effort in the development of suitable theoretical tools and methods to help further progress in nanoscience. All ten contributions to this Special Issue can be seen as efforts to support, enhance and validate the theoretical foundation of Hill.




Physics of Long-range Interacting Systems


Book Description

This book deals with an important class of many-body systems: those where the interaction potential decays slowly for large inter-particle distances; in particular, systems where the decay is slower than the inverse inter-particle distance raised to the dimension of the embedding space. Gravitational and Coulomb interactions are the most prominent examples, however it has become clear that long-range interactions are more common than previously thought. A satisfactory understanding of properties, generally considered as oddities only a couple of decades ago, has now been reached: ensemble inequivalence, negative specific heat, negative susceptibility, ergodicity breaking, out-of-equilibrium quasi-stationary-states, anomalous diffusion. The book, intended for Master and PhD students, tries to gradually acquaint the reader with the subject. The first two parts describe the theoretical and computational instruments needed to address the study of both equilibrium and dynamical properties of systems subject to long-range forces. The third part of the book is devoted to applications of such techniques to the most relevant examples of long-range systems.




Symmetry Breaking


Book Description

The intriguing mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking is a powerful innovative idea at the basis of most of the recent developments in theoretical physics, from statistical mechanics to many-body theory to elementary particles theory; for infinitely extended systems a symmetric Hamiltonian can account for non symmetric behaviours, giving rise to non symmetric realizations of a physical system. In the first part of this book, devoted to classical field theory, such a mechanism is explained in terms of the occurrence of disjoint sectors and their stability properties and of an improved version of the Noether theorem. For infinitely extended quantum systems, discussed in the second part, the mechanism is related to the occurrence of disjoint pure phases and characterized by a symmetry breaking order parameter, for which non perturbative criteria are discussed, following Wightman, and contrasted with the standard Goldstone perturbative strategy. The Goldstone theorem is discussed with a critical look at the hypotheses that emphasizes the crucial role of the dynamical delocalization induced by the interaction range. The Higgs mechanism in local gauges is explained in terms of the Gauss law constraint on the physical states. The mathematical details are kept to the minimum required to make the book accessible to students with basic knowledge of Hilbert space structures. Much of the material has not appeared in other textbooks.




Kinetic Theory and Transport Phenomena


Book Description

One of the questions about which humanity has often wondered is the arrow of time. Why does temporal evolution seem irreversible? That is, we often see objects break into pieces, but we never see them reconstitute spontaneously. This observation was first put into scientific terms by the so-called second law of thermodynamics: entropy never decreases. However, this law does not explain the origin of irreversibly; it only quantifies it. Kinetic theory gives a consistent explanation of irreversibility based on a statistical description of the motion of electrons, atoms, and molecules. The concepts of kinetic theory have been applied to innumerable situations including electronics, the production of particles in the early universe, the dynamics of astrophysical plasmas, quantum gases or the motion of small microorganisms in water, with excellent quantitative agreement. This book presents the fundamentals of kinetic theory, considering classical paradigmatic examples as well as modern applications. It covers the most important systems where kinetic theory is applied, explaining their major features. The text is balanced between exploring the fundamental concepts of kinetic theory (irreversibility, transport processes, separation of time scales, conservations, coarse graining, distribution functions, etc.) and the results and predictions of the theory, where the relevant properties of different systems are computed.




Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Systems with Long Range Interactions: Theory and Experiments


Book Description

The workshop was about the developments of the thermodynamical and dynamical behavior of many-body systems in which the interactions decay very slowly with the distance: they present very strange properties, not found in the other systems. The possibility of testing the theoretical ideas in laboratory systems was the most innovative issue.




Long-range Interactions, Stochasticity and Fractional Dynamics


Book Description

In memory of Dr. George Zaslavsky, "Long-range Interactions, Stochasticity and Fractional Dynamics" covers the recent developments of long-range interaction, fractional dynamics, brain dynamics and stochastic theory of turbulence, each chapter was written by established scientists in the field. The book is dedicated to Dr. George Zaslavsky, who was one of three founders of the theory of Hamiltonian chaos. The book discusses self-similarity and stochasticity and fractionality for discrete and continuous dynamical systems, as well as long-range interactions and diluted networks. A comprehensive theory for brain dynamics is also presented. In addition, the complexity and stochasticity for soliton chains and turbulence are addressed. The book is intended for researchers in the field of nonlinear dynamics in mathematics, physics and engineering. Dr. Albert C.J. Luo is a Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA. Dr. Valentin Afraimovich is a Professor at San Luis Potosi University, Mexico.




Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Small Systems


Book Description

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Small Systems" that was published in Entropy