Description

Book Synopsis
This book is an informal, readable introduction to the basic ideas of thermal physics. It is aimed at making the reader feel comfortable with the extremum principles of entropy and free energies. There is a repeating theme: Molecules (spins) do X to maximize their entropy, and molecules (spins) do XX to minimize their free energy. This finally leads to the idea of the Landau-Ginzburg free energy functional. The author illustrates how powerful the idea is by using two examples from phase transitions.

Table of Contents
Introduction to Thermal Physics; All You Need to Know to Read the Rest; Isolated Thermal Systems; Systems in Contact with a Thermal Reservoir; Open Systems, Flexible Systems, and Two More Energy-like Functions; Energy versus Free Energy; Phases and Phase Transitions; Second-Order Phase Transitions; Landau-Ginzburg Free Energy Functional and Applications; Monte Carlo and Finite-Size Scaling.

Thermal Physics: Entropy And Free Energies

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    A Hardback by Joon Chang Lee

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      View other formats and editions of Thermal Physics: Entropy And Free Energies by Joon Chang Lee

      Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 18/03/2002
      ISBN13: 9789810248741, 978-9810248741
      ISBN10: 9810248741

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      This book is an informal, readable introduction to the basic ideas of thermal physics. It is aimed at making the reader feel comfortable with the extremum principles of entropy and free energies. There is a repeating theme: Molecules (spins) do X to maximize their entropy, and molecules (spins) do XX to minimize their free energy. This finally leads to the idea of the Landau-Ginzburg free energy functional. The author illustrates how powerful the idea is by using two examples from phase transitions.

      Table of Contents
      Introduction to Thermal Physics; All You Need to Know to Read the Rest; Isolated Thermal Systems; Systems in Contact with a Thermal Reservoir; Open Systems, Flexible Systems, and Two More Energy-like Functions; Energy versus Free Energy; Phases and Phase Transitions; Second-Order Phase Transitions; Landau-Ginzburg Free Energy Functional and Applications; Monte Carlo and Finite-Size Scaling.

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