3/21/2017 Foundations and History of Statistical Mechanics

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Foundations and History of Statistical Mechanics

06 Jul 2014 13:21

Technical issues: things like, what exactly is a C* algebra? Role of large deviations.

Conceptual issues: Why is it legitimate to treat deterministic mechanical systems with

many unstable degrees of freedom as stochastic processes? (My impulse is to appeal to
ergodic theory.) When and why do we get convergence to equilibria characterized by only
a few macroscopic degrees of freedom? (That sounds like a central limit theorem, some
kind of result about how the large-scale limit is insensitive to all but a few aspects of the
small scales.)

Historical issues: It's interesting to know how people have argued about this stuff.

See also: Statistical Mechanics; Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics; Maximum Entropy;

Tsallis Statistics

Recommended:
David Z. Albert, Time and Chance
Jean Bricmont, "Science of Chaos or Chaos in Science?", chao-dyn/9603009
Stephen G. Brush, "Foundations of Statistical Mechanics 1845--1915", Archive
for the History of Exact Sciences 4 (1966): 145--183
Patrizia Castiglione, Massimo Falcioni, Annick Lesne and Angelo Vulpiani, Chaos
and Coarse Graining in Statistical Mechanics [Mini-review]
E. G. D. Cohen, "Entropy, Probability and Dynamics", arxiv:0807.1268
W. De Roeck, Christian Maes and Karel Netocny, "H-Theorems from
Autonomous Equations", cond-mat/0508089 = Journal of Statistical Physics 123
(2006): 571--584 ["If for a Hamiltonian dynamics for many particles, at all times the
present macrostate determines the future macrostate, then its entropy is non-
decreasing as a consequence of Liouville's theorem. That observation, made since
long, is here rigorously analyzed with special care to reconcile the application of
Liouville's theorem (for a finite number of particles) with the condition of
autonomous macroscopic evolution (sharp only in the limit of infinite scale
separation); and to evaluate the presumed necessity of a Markov property for the
macroscopic evolution."]
Richard S. Ellis, Entropy, Large Deviations and Statistical Mechanics
A. I. Khinchin, Mathematical Foundations of Statistical Mechanics
Joel L. Lebowitz, "Statistical mechanics: A selective Review of Two Central
Issues", Reviews of Modern Physics 71 (1999): S346--S357, math-ph/0010018
[Abstract: "I give a highly selective overview of the way statistical mechanics
explains the microscopic origins of the time-asymmetric evolution of macroscopic
systems towards equilibrium and of first-order phase transitions in equilibrium.
These phenomena are emergent collective properties not discernible in the behavior
of individual atoms. They are given precise and elegant mathematical formulations
when the ratio between macroscopic and microscopic scales becomes very large."]
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Michael C. Mackey
"The Dynamic Origin of Increasing Entropy", Reviews of Modern Physics
61 (1989): 981--1015
Time's Arrow: The Origins of Thermodynamic Behavior [This is a very
valuable short introduction to the ergodic theory of Markov operators, which
is highly relevant to the origins of irreversibility, etc., but I don't think his
approach works, because he focuses on the relative entropy (Kullback-
Leibler divergence from the invariant distribution), rather than the Boltzmann
entropy or even the Gibbs entropy.]
Benoit Mandelbrot, "The Role of Sufficiency and of Estimation in
Thermodynamics", Annals of Mathematical Statistics 33 (1962): 1021--1038
[Extensive thermodynamic variables as sufficient statistics for the conjugate intensive
variables; Gibbs canonical form arising from natural requirements on finite-
dimensional sufficient statistics, which can only be achieved for exponential families
of probability distributions. Very clever.]
Sandu Popescu, Anthony J. Short, and Andreas Winter, "Entanglement and the
Foundations of Statistical Mechanics", quant-ph/0511225 [Roughly speaking: due
to environmental entanglement, most states of a sub-system look "thermalized", no
matter what the real state of the whole system is]
Hans Reichenbach, The Direction of Time [Comments]
Steven Savitt (ed.), Time's Arrows Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical
Work on the Direction of Time
Geoffrey Sewell
Quantum Mechanics and Its Emergent Macrophysics
"On the Question of Temperature Transformations under Lorentz and Galilei
Boosts", arxiv:0808.0803 [Punch-line: "there is no law of temperature
transformation under either Lorentz or Galilei boosts, and so the concept of
temperature stemming from the Zeroth Law is restricted to states of bodies in
their rest frames."]
Lawrence Sklar, Physics and Chance: Philosophical Issues in the Foundations
of Statistical Mechanics
Eric Smith, "Large-deviation principles, stochastic effective actions, path entropies,
and the structure and meaning of thermodynamic descriptions", arxiv:1102.3938
Hugo Touchette, "The Large Deviations Approach to Statistical Mechanics",
arxiv:0804.0327
W. H. Zurek, "Algorithmic Randomness, Physical Entropy, Measurements, and the
Demon of Choice," quant-ph/9807007

Modesty forbids:
CRS and Cristopher Moore, "What Is a Macrotate?" cond-mat/0303625

To read:
Walid K. Abou Salem and Jrg Frhlich, "Status of the Fundamental Laws of
Thermodynamics", Journal of Statistical Physics 126 (2007): 1045-1068 ["We
describe recent progress towards deriving the Fundamental Laws of
thermodynamics (the 0th, 1st, and 2nd Law) from nonequilibrium quantum statistical
mechanics in simple, yet physically relevant models."]
A. E. Allahverdyan and Th. M. Nieuwenhuizen, "Explanation of the Gibbs paradox
within the framework of quantum thermodynamics", Physical Review E 73 (2006):
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066119 = quant-ph/0507145 [The abstract says many things with which I am

sympathetic, most notably coming out against "a direct association of physical
irreversibility with lack of information", but I don't know if I'll ever find time to read
this...]
Massimiliano Badino
"The Foundational Role of Ergodic Theory", phil-sci/2277
"Probability and Statistics in Boltzmann's Early Papers on Kinetic Theory",
phil-sci/2276
"Was there a statistical Turn? The Interaction between Mechanics and
Probability in Boltzmann's Theory of Non Equilibrium (1872-1877)", phil-
sci/2878
Robert W. Batterman, "Why Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics Works: Universality
and the Renormalization Group", Philosopy of Science 65 (1998): 183--208
[JSTOR]
Battimelli et al., (eds.), Proceedings of the Int'l Symposium on Ludwig
Boltzmann
Joseph Berkovitz, Roman Frigg and Fred Kronz, "The Ergodic Hierarchy,
Randomness and Hamiltonian Chaos", phil-sci/2927
Ludwig Boltzmann, Lectures on Gas Theory [Get the Dover reprint]
Michele Campisi, "Mechanical Proof of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Based on Volume Entropy", arxiv:0704.2567 [i.e., Boltzmann entropy]
Michele Campisi and Donald H. Kobe, "Derivation of Boltzmann Principle",
arxiv:0911.2070
Miguel Carrion-Alvarez, "Variations on a theme of Gelfand and Naimark",
math.FA/0402150 [Algebras of observables, including C* algebras as a special
case]
Hasok Chang, Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific Progress
Marius Costeniuc, Richard S. Ellis, Hugo Touchette and Bruce Turkington, "The
Generalized Canonical Ensemble and Its Universal Equivalence with the
Microcanonical Ensemble", Journal of Statistical Physics 119 (2005): 1283-
-1329
Stefano Curtarolo and Gerbrand Ceder, "Dynamic of a non homogeneously coarse
grained system," cond-mat/0106263
N. D. Hari Dass, S. Kalyana Rama and B. Sathiapalan, "On the Emergence of the
Microcanonical Description from a Pure State," cond-mat/0112439
Kevin Davey, "What Is Gibbs's Canonical Distribution?", phil-sci/4282
Paul and Tatiana Ehrenfest, The Conceptual Foundations of the Statistical
Approach in Mechanics
Richard S. Ellis, Kyle Haven and Bruce Turkington, "The Large Deviation Principle
for Coarse-Grained Processes," math-ph/0012023
Denis J. Evans, Debra J. Searles, Stephen R. Williams, "A simple mathematical
proof of Boltzmann's equal a priori probability hypothesis", arxiv:0903.1480
Roman Frigg, "Probability in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics", phil-sci/3489
Alexandre Giraud and Julien Serreau, "Decoherence and Thermalization of a Pure
Quantum State in Quantum Field Theory", Physical Review Letters 104 (2010):
230405 ["real-time evolution of a self-interacting O(N) scalar field initially prepared
in a pure, coherent quantum state. ... nonequilibrium quantum dynamics from a 1/N
expansion of the two-particle-irreducible effective action at next-to-leading order,
which includes scattering and memory effects. ... restricting one's attention (or ability
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to measure) to a subset of the infinite hierarchy of correlation functions, one

observes an effective loss of purity or coherence and, on longer time scales,
thermalization. .... physics of decoherence is well described by classical statistical
field theory."]
Sheldon Goldstein, "Boltzmann's Approach to Statistical Mechanics," cond-
mat/0105242 ["most twentieth-century innovations are thoroughly misguided"]
Sheldon Goldstein, Joel L. Lebowitz, Roderich Tumulka, and Nino Zanghi,
"Canonical Typicality", Physical Review Letters 96 (2006): 050403
H. Grad, "The many faces of entropy", Communications on Pure and Applied
Mathematics 14 (1961): 323--354 [Apparently makes the point that the correct
entropy function is dependent on the level of description. This is important for
revising my paper with Cris Moore...]
A. Greven, G. Keller and G. Warnecke (eds.), Entropy
D. H. E. Gross
"Geometric Foundation of Thermo-Statistics, Phase Transitions, Second Law
of Thermodynamics, but without Thermodynamic Limit," cond-mat/0201235
"The microcanonical entropy is multiply differentiable. No dinosaurs in
microcanonical gravitation: No special 'microcanonical phase transitions',"
cond-mat/0403582
"On the Microscopic Foundation of Thermo-Statistics," cond-mat/0209482
"A New Thermodynamics,From Nuclei to Stars," cond-mat/0302267
"Second Law of Thermodynamics, Macroscopic Observables within
Boltzmann's Principle but without Thermodynamic Limit," cond-
mat/0101281
"Thermo-Statistics or Topology of the Microcanonical Entropy Surface,"
cond-mat/0206341
Meir Hemmo and Orly Shenker
"Quantum Decoherence and the Approach to Equilibrium", Philosophy of
Science 70 (2003): 330--358
The Road to Maxwell's Demon: Conceptual Foundations of Statistical
Mechanics [Review by Charlotte Wendl in NDPR, suggesting a bizarre
gross error about the meaning of "absolute continuity"]
Steven Huntsman, "Effective statistical physics of Anosov systems",
arxiv:1009.2127
Fengping Jin, Thomas Neuhaus, Kristel Michielsen, Seiji Miyashita, Mark Novotny,
Mikhail I. Katsnelson, Hans De Raedt, "Equilibration and Thermalization of
Classical Systems", arxiv:1209.0995
Dragi Karevski, "Foundations of Statistical Mechanics: in and out of Equilibrium",
cond-mat/0509595 ["The first part of the paper is devoted to the foundations, that
is the mathematical and physical justification, of equilibrium statistical mechanics. It
is a pedagogical attempt, mostly based on Khinchin's presentation, which purpose is
to clarify some aspects of the development of statistical mechanics. In the second
part, we discuss some recent developments that appeared out of equilibrium, such
as fluctuation theorem and Jarzynski equality."]
Gerhard Keller, Equilibrium States in Ergodic Theory
Martin Krieger, Constitutions of Matter: Mathematically Modeling the Most
Everyday of Physical Phenomena
Juraj Kumicak, "Irreversibility in a simple reversible model", Physical Review E 71
(2005): 016115 = nlin.CD/0510016
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David A. Lavis
"The spin-echo system reconsidered", cond-mat/0311527
"Is Equilibrium a Useful Concept in Statistical Mechanics?", cond-
mat/0401061
"Boltzmann, Gibbs and the Concept of Equilibrium", arxiv:0710.2052 = phil-
sci/3595
Chuang Liu, "Approximations, Idealizations, and Models in Statistical Mechanics,"
PITT-PHIL-SCI00000365
A. Majda, I. Timofeyev and E. Vanden-Eijnden, "Stochastic models for selected
slow variables in large deterministic systems", Nonlinearity 19 (2006): 769
Benoit Mandelbrot, "On the Derivation of Statistical Thermodynamics from Purely
Phenomenological Principles", Journal of Mathematical Physics 5 (1964): 164-
-171 [PDF reprint]
Stphane Mischler, Clment Mouhot, "Kac's Program in Kinetic Theory",
arxiv:1107.3251 ["his paper is devoted to the study of propagation of chaos and
mean-field limit for systems of indistinguable particles undergoing collision
processes, as formulated by M. Kac (1956)..."]
Wayne C. Myrvold, "Probabilities in Statistical Mechanics: What are they?",
philsci/9236
Jill North, "An Empirical Approach to Symmetry and Probability", phil-sci/5192
Oliver Penrose, Foundations of Statistical Mechanics: A Deductive Treatment
A. Perez-Madrid, "Gibbs Entropy and Irreversibility", cond-mat/0401532
E. A. J. F. Peters, "Projection operator formalism and entropy", cond-
mat/0703672
Denes Petz, "Entropy, von Neumann and the von Neumann Entropy," math-
ph/0102013
Peter Reimann
"Foundation of Statistical Mechanics under Experimentally Realistic
Conditions", Physical Review Letters 101 (2008): 190403
"Typicality for Generalized Microcanonical Ensembles", Physical Review
Letters 99 (2007): 160404, arxiv:0710.4214 ["For a macroscopic, isolated
quantum system in an unknown pure state, the expectation value of any given
observable is shown to hardly deviate from the ensemble average with
extremely high probability under generic equilibrium and nonequilibrium
conditions. Special care is devoted to the uncontrollable microscopic details
of the system state. For a subsystem weakly coupled to a large heat bath, the
canonical ensemble is recovered under much more general and realistic
assumptions than those implicit in the usual microcanonical description of the
composite system at equilibrium."]
David Ruelle
Statistical Mechanics: Rigorous Results
Thermodynamic Formalism
Geoffrey L. Sewell, "Statistical Thermodynamics of Moving Bodies",
arxiv:0902.3881
Orly R. Shenker and Meir Hemmo
"The Von Neumann Entropy: A Reconsideration", phil-sci/2256
"Von Neumann's Entropy Does Not Correspond to Thermodynamic
Entropy", phil-sci/3716
Hal Tasaki
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"From Quantum Dynamics to the Second Law of Thermodynamics," cond-

mat/0005128
"The second law of Thermodynamics as a theorem in quantum mechanics,"
cond-mat/0011321
"The approach to thermal equilibrium and "thermodynamic normality" --- An
observation based on the works by Goldstein, Lebowitz, Mastrodonato,
Tumulka, and Zanghi in 2009, and by von Neumann in 1929",
arxiv:1003.5424
Jos Uffink
"Bluff Your Way in the Second Law of Thermodynamics," cond-
mat/0005327
"Insuperable difficulties: Einstein's statistical road to molecular physics",
Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (2006): 36--70
"Compendium of the foundations of classical statistical physics", phil-sci/2691

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