Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Guide
- 1 Preliminaries
- 2 Bernoulli Trials
- 3 The Standard Random Walk
- 4 The Standard Random Walk in Higher Dimensions
- 5 LLN, CLT, Iterated Log, and Arcsine in General
- 6 Brownian Motion
- 7 Markov Chains
- 8 The Ergodic Theorem
- 9 Communication over a Noisy Channel
- 10 Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
- 11 Statistical Mechanics Out of Equilibrium
- 12 Random Matrices
- References
- Index
11 - Statistical Mechanics Out of Equilibrium
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Guide
- 1 Preliminaries
- 2 Bernoulli Trials
- 3 The Standard Random Walk
- 4 The Standard Random Walk in Higher Dimensions
- 5 LLN, CLT, Iterated Log, and Arcsine in General
- 6 Brownian Motion
- 7 Markov Chains
- 8 The Ergodic Theorem
- 9 Communication over a Noisy Channel
- 10 Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
- 11 Statistical Mechanics Out of Equilibrium
- 12 Random Matrices
- References
- Index
Summary
This is much harder. I quote from Feynman [1964] at some length
With this chapter we begin a new subject which will occupy us for some time. It is the first part of the analysis of the properties of matter from the physical point of view, in which, recognizing that matter is made out of a great many atoms, or elementary parts, which interact electrically and obey the laws of mechanics, we try to understand why various aggregates of atoms behave the way they do.
It is obvious that this is a difficult subject, and we emphasize at the beginning that it is in fact an extremely difficult subject, and that we have to deal with it differently than we have dealt with the other subjects so far. In the case of mechanics and in the case of light, we were able to begin with a precise statement of some laws, like Newton's laws, or the formula for the field produced by an accelerating charge, from which a whole host of phenomena could be essentially understood, and which would produce a basis for our understanding of mechanics and light from that time on. That is, we may learn more later, but we do not learn different physics, we only learn better methods of mathematical analysis to deal with the situation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Probability , pp. 352 - 401Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014