Concepts in thermal physics / Stephen J. Blundell and Katherine M. Blundell.

This text provides a modern introduction to the main principles of thermal physics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The key concepts are presented and new ideas are illustrated with worked examples as well as description of the historical background to their discovery.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Blundell, Stephen, 1967- (Author), Blundell, Katherine M. (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Edition:2nd ed.
Subjects:
Online Access:Click for online access
Table of Contents:
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Heat
  • 3. Probability
  • 4. Temperature and the Boltzmann factor
  • 5. Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
  • 6. Pressure
  • 7. Molecular effusion
  • 8. The mean free path and collisions
  • 9. Transport properties in gases
  • 10. The thermal diffusion equation
  • 11. Energy
  • 12. Isothermal and adiabatic processes
  • 13. Heat engines and the second law
  • 14. Entropy
  • 15. Information theory
  • 16. Thermodynamic potentials
  • 17. Rods, bubbles, and magnets
  • 18. The third law
  • 19. Equipartition of energy
  • 20. The partition function
  • 21. Statistical mechanics of an ideal gas
  • 22. The chemical potential
  • 23. Photons
  • 24. Phonons
  • 25. Relativistic gases
  • 26. Real gases
  • 27. Cooling real gases
  • 28. Phase transitions
  • 29. Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions
  • 30. Quantum gases and condensates
  • 31. Sound waves
  • 32. Shock waves
  • 33. Brownian motion and fluctuations
  • 34. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics
  • 35. Stars
  • 36. Compact objects
  • 37. Earth's atmosphere
  • A. Fundamental constants
  • B. Useful formulae
  • C. Useful mathematics
  • D. the electromagnetic spectrum
  • E. Some thermodynamical definitions
  • F. Thermodynamic expansion formulae
  • G. Reduced mass
  • H. Glossary of main symbols.