The aim of this book is to provide the fundamentals of statistical physics and its application to condensed matter. The combination of statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics has provided an understanding of properties of matter leading to spectacular technological innovations and discoveries in condensed matter which have radically changed our daily life.The book gives the steps to follow to understand fundamental theories and to apply these to real materials.

Predicting thermodynamic quantities for chemically realistic systems on the basis of atomistic calculations is still, even today, a nontrivial task. Nonetheless, accurate treatment of inter-particle interactions, in terms of quantum chemical first principles methods, is a prerequisite for many applications, because of the complexity of both reactants and solvents in modern molecular sciences. Currently, a straightforward calculation of thermodynamic properties from these methods is only possible for high-temperature and low- density systems. Although the enthalpy of a system can often be predicted to a good level of precision with this ideal gas approach, calculating the entropy contribution to the free energy is problematic, especially as the density of the system increases. This thesis contains a compact and coherent introduction of basic theoretical features. The foundations are then laid for the development of approaches suitable for calculation of condensed phase entropies on the basis of well-established quantum chemical methods. The main emphasis of this work is on realistic systems in solution, which is the most important environment for chemical synthesis. The presented results demonstrate how isolated molecular concepts typically employed in modern quantum chemistry can be extended for the accurate determination of thermodynamic properties by means of scale- transferring approaches.

Instantons, or pseudoparticles, are solutions to the equations of motion in classical field theories on a Euclidean spacetime. Instantons are found everywhere in quantum theories as they have many applications in quantum tunnelling. Diverse physical phenomena may be described through quantum tunnelling, for example: the Josephson effect, the decay of meta-stable nuclear states, band formation in tight binding models of crystalline solids, the structure of the gauge theory vacuum, confinement in 2+1 dimensions, and the decay of superheated or supercooled phases. Drawing inspiration from Sidney Coleman's Erice lectures, this volume provides an accessible, detailed introduction to instanton methods, with many applications, making it a valuable resource for graduate students in many areas of physics, from condensed matter, particle and nuclear physics, to string theory. This title, first published in 2017, has been reissued as an Open Access publication on Cambridge Core.

This book presents the state of the art in social simulation as presented at the Social Simulation Conference 2019 in Mainz, Germany. It covers the developments in applications and methods of social simulation, addressing societal issues such as socio-ecological systems and policymaking. Methodological issues discussed include large-scale empirical calibration, model sharing and interdisciplinary research, as well as decision-making models, validation and the use of qualitative data in simulation modeling. Research areas covered include archaeology, cognitive science, economics, organization science and social simulation education. This book gives readers insight into the increasing use of social simulation in both its theoretical development and in practical applications such as policymaking whereby modeling and the behavior of complex systems is key. The book appeals to students, researchers and professionals in the various fields.

Fundamentals of the Finite Element Method for Heat and Mass Transfer, Second Edition is a comprehensively updated new edition and is a unique book on the application of the finite element method to heat and mass transfer. Addresses fundamentals, applications and computer implementation Educational computer codes are freely available to download, modify and use Includes a large number of worked examples and exercises Fills the gap between learning and research

This book shows how neural networks are applied to computational mechanics. Part I presents the fundamentals of neural networks and other machine learning method in computational mechanics. Part II highlights the applications of neural networks to a variety of problems of computational mechanics. The final chapter gives perspectives to the applications of the deep learning to computational mechanics.

Based on courses given at the universities of Texas and California, this book treats an active field of research that touches upon the foundations of physics and chemistry. It presents, in as simple a manner as possible, the basic mechanisms that determine the dynamical evolution of both classical and quantum systems in sufficient generality to include quantum phenomena. The book begins with a discussion of Noether's theorem, integrability, KAM theory, and a definition of chaotic behavior; continues with a detailed discussion of area-preserving maps, integrable quantum systems, spectral properties, path integrals, and periodically driven systems; and concludes by showing how to apply the ideas to stochastic systems. The presentation is complete and self-contained; appendices provide much of the needed mathematical background, and there are extensive references to the current literature; while problems at the ends of chapters help students clarify their understanding. This new edition has an updated presentation throughout, and a new chapter on open quantum systems.

This book is based on the premise that the entropy concept, a fundamental element of probability theory as logic, governs all of thermal physics, both equilibrium and nonequilibrium. The variational algorithm of J. Willard Gibbs, dating from the 19th Century and extended considerably over the following 100 years, is shown to be the governing feature over the entire range of thermal phenomena, such that only the nature of the macroscopic constraints changes. Beginning with a short history of the development of the entropy concept by Rudolph Clausius and his predecessors, along with the formalization of classical thermodynamics by Gibbs, the first part of the book describes the quest to uncover the meaning of thermodynamic entropy, which leads to its relationship with probability and information as first envisioned by Ludwig Boltzmann. Recognition of entropy first of all as a fundamental element of probability theory in mid-twentieth Century led to deep insights into both statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, the details of which are presented here in several chapters. The later chapters extend these ideas to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in an unambiguous manner, thereby exhibiting the overall unifying role of the entropy.

This long-awaited, physics-first and design-oriented text describes and explains the underlying flow and heat transfer theory of secondary air systems. An applications-oriented focus throughout the book provides the reader with robust solution techniques, state-of-the-art three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodologies, and examples of compressible flow network modeling. It clearly explains elusive concepts of windage, non-isentropic generalized vortex, Ekman boundary layer, rotor disk pumping, and centrifugally-driven buoyant convection associated with gas turbine secondary flow systems featuring rotation. The book employs physics-based, design-oriented methodology to compute windage and swirl distributions in a complex rotor cavity formed by surfaces with arbitrary rotation, counter-rotation, and no rotation. This text will be a valuable tool for aircraft engine and industrial gas turbine design engineers as well as graduate students enrolled in advanced special topics courses.

Fundamentals of Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics provides a comprehensive introduction to this pivotal subject. Starting from basics, the book begins with a thorough introduction to the field, providing concise definitions and an overview of thermodynamics and its applications.

The book discusses the fundamentals of classical equilibrium thermodynamics, thermal physics, kinetic theory and statistical mechanics. This comprehensive coverage enables the reader to understand not only the interrelationships between these subjects but also encourages an ability to interpret the thermodynamic quantities and laws in terms of statistical mechanics. Beginning with a detailed discussion of the four laws of thermodynamics the text introduces more advanced topics in later chapters, such as applications of the first and second laws, free energy and chemical equilibria, and equilibrium statististical mechanics and applications.

Uniquely, this text includes a large number of worked examples throughout, with a range of problems at the end of each chapter and their solutions all at the end of the book. The most fundamental concepts of the subject are emphasised throughout and new derivations of many of the standard formulae have been developed to avoid excessive mathematical rigour.

Fundamentals of Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics:

• Provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, covering both classical and statistical thermodynamics.
• Includes numerous worked examples and end of chapter problems with answers provided at the back of the book.
• Covers the essentials of the subject combined with cutting-edge material such as non-linear chemical physics, critical phenomena and transport theory.
• Ensures the necessary mathematics are limited to simple derivatives and integrals.

Statistical Physics (SP) has followed an unusual evolutionary path in science. Originally aiming to provide a fundamental basis for another important branch of Physics, namely Thermodynamics, SP gradually became an independent field of research in its own right. But despite more than a century of steady progress, there are still plenty of challenges and open questions in the SP realm.In fact, the area is still rapidly evolving, in contrast to other branches of science, which already have well defined scopes and borderlines of applicability. This difference is due to the steadily expanding number of applications, as well as ongoing improvements and revisions of concepts and methods in SP. Such particular aspects of SP lend further significance and timeliness to this book about perspectives and trends within the field.Here, the aim is to present the state-of-the-art vision of expert researchers who study SP and Complex Systems. Although a comprehensive treatment is well beyond what can be treated in a single volume, the book provides a snapshot of the field today, as well as a glimpse of where the field may be heading during the next decade.The book is aimed at graduate and advanced undergraduate physics students, as well as researchers who work with SP, Complex Systems, Computational Physics, Biological Physics and related topics. It addresses questions such as: What insights can be gained from recent advances in the study of traditional problems in SP? How can SP help us understand problems that arise in the biological sciences and in the study of complex systems? How can new problems be formulated using the 'language' of SP? In this way, it attempts to document partial progress in answering these and related questions.The book also commemorates the occasion of the 70th anniversary in 2011 of two important physicists and friends who dedicated their lives to the understanding of nature in general and to the development of Statistical Physics and the science of Complexity in particular: Liacir Lucena and H Eugene Stanley.

This book deals with certain important problems in Classical and Quantum Information Theory Quantum Information Theory, A Selection of Matrix Inequalities Stochastic Filtering Theory Applied to Electromagnetic Fields and Strings Wigner-distributions in Quantum Mechanics Quantization of Classical Field Theories Statistical Signal Processing Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Statistics, Gravity, Stochastic Fields and Information Problems in Information Theory It will be very helpful for students of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses in Electronics, Communication and Signal Processing. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan).

Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures, Second Edition presents a comprehensive introduction to 20th century thermodynamics that can be applied to both equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems, unifying what was traditionally divided into thermodynamics and kinetics into one theory of irreversible processes. This comprehensive text, suitable for introductory as well as advanced courses on thermodynamics, has been widely used by chemists, physicists, engineers and geologists. Fully revised and expanded, this new edition includes the following updates and features: * Includes a completely new chapter on Principles of Statistical Thermodynamics. * Presents new material on solar and wind energy flows and energy flows of interest to engineering. * Covers new material on self-organization in non-equilibrium systems and the thermodynamics of small systems. * Highlights a wide range of applications relevant to students across physical sciences and engineering courses. * Introduces students to computational methods using updated Mathematica codes. * Includes problem sets to help the reader understand and apply the principles introduced throughout the text. * Solutions to exercises and supplementary lecture material provided online at http://sites.google.com/site/modernthermodynamics/. Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures, Second Edition is an essential resource for undergraduate and graduate students taking a course in thermodynamics.

This book contains contributions presented at the 12th International Conference on Complex Networks (CompleNet), 24-26 May 2021. CompleNet is an international conference on complex networks that brings together researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplines-from sociology, biology, physics, and computer science-who share a passion to better understand the interdependencies within and across systems. CompleNet is a venue to discuss ideas and findings about all types networks, from biological, to technological, to informational and social. It is this interdisciplinary nature of complex networks that CompleNet aims to explore and celebrate.

This book is the fifth volume of papers on advanced problems of phase transitions and critical phenomena, the first four volumes appeared in 2004, 2007, 2012, and 2015. It aims to compile reviews in those aspects of criticality and related subjects that are of current interest. The seven chapters discuss criticality of complex systems, where the new, emergent properties appear via collective behaviour of simple elements. Since all complex systems involve cooperative behaviour between many interconnected components, the field of phase transitions and critical phenomena provides a very natural conceptual and methodological framework for their study.As the first four volumes, this book is based on the review lectures that were given in Lviv (Ukraine) at the 'Ising lectures' - a traditional annual workshop on phase transitions and critical phenomena which aims to bring together scientists working in the field of phase transitions with university students and those who are interested in the subject.

This book intends to introduce some recent results on passivity of complex dynamical networks with single weight and multiple weights. The book collects novel research ideas and some definitions in complex dynamical networks, such as passivity, output strict passivity, input strict passivity, finite-time passivity, and multiple weights. Furthermore, the research results previously published in many flagship journals are methodically edited and presented in a unified form. The book is likely to be of interest to university researchers and graduate students in Engineering and Mathematics who wish to study the passivity of complex dynamical networks.

The Ising model provides a detailed mathematical description of ferromagnetism and is widely used in statistical physics and condensed matter physics. In this Student's Guide, the author demystifies the mathematical framework of the Ising model and provides students with a clear understanding of both its physical significance, and how to apply it successfully in their calculations. Key topics related to the Ising model are covered, including exact solutions of both finite and infinite systems, series expansions about high and low temperatures, mean-field approximation methods, and renormalization-group calculations. The book also incorporates plots, figures, and tables to highlight the significance of the results. Designed as a supplementary resource for undergraduate and graduate students, each chapter includes a selection of exercises intended to reinforce and extend important concepts, and solutions are also available for all exercises.

Written by leading experts in their respective fields, Solidification and Casting provides a comprehensive review of topics fundamental to metallurgy and materials science as well as indicates recent trends.
From an industrial perspective, the book begins with chapters on the casting techniques most commonly used in industry today. It then describes the underlying science fundamental to solidification mechanisms, including fluid flow, the effects of cooling rates, modern simulation, and modelling methods in use and their application in various casting scenarios. Next, the authors consider the microstructure of cast materials and their defects, and explore how different casting processes can control these parameters. The book concludes with the most recent developments in the field and discusses new processes and materials, such as novel alloys and composites, metallic glasses, ceramics, and superconducting oxides.

Philosophy in Reality offers a new vision of the relation between science and philosophy in the framework of a non-propositional logic of real processes, grounded in the physics of the real world. This logical system is based on the work of the Franco-Romanian thinker Stephane Lupasco (1900-1988), previously presented by Joseph Brenner in the book Logic in Reality (Springer, 2008). The present book was inspired in part by the ancient Chinese Book of Changes (I Ching) and its scientific-philosophical discussion of change. The emphasis in Philosophy in Reality is on the recovery of dialectics and semantics from reductionist applications and their incorporation into a new synthetic paradigm for knowledge. Through an original re-interpretation of both classical and modern Western thought, this book addresses philosophical issues in scientific fields as well as long-standing conceptual problems such as the origin, nature and role of meaning, the unity of knowledge and the origin of morality. In a rigorous transdisciplinary manner, it discusses foundational and current issues in the physical sciences - mathematics, information, communication and systems theory and their implications for philosophy. The same framework is applied to problems of the origins of society, the transformation of reality by human subjects, and the emergence of a global, sustainable information society. In summary, Philosophy in Reality provides a wealth of new perspectives and references, supporting research by both philosophers and physical and social scientists concerned with the many facets of reality.

Continuum Models for Phase Transitions and Twinning in Crystals presents the fundamentals of a remarkably successful approach to crystal thermomechanics. Developed over the last two decades, it is based on the mathematical theory of nonlinear thermoelasticity, in which a new viewpoint on material symmetry, motivated by molecular theories, plays a central role.

This is the first organized presentation of a nonlinear elastic approach to twinning and displacive phase transition in crystalline solids. The authors develop geometry, kinematics, and energy invariance in crystals in strong connection and with the purpose of investigating the actual mechanical aspects of the phenomena, particularly in an elastostatics framework based on the minimization of a thermodynamic potential. Interesting for both mechanics and mathematical analysis, the new theory offers the possibility of investigating the formation of microstructures in materials undergoing martensitic phase transitions, such as shape-memory alloys.

Although phenomena such as twinning and phase transitions were once thought to fall outside the range of elastic models, research efforts in these areas have proved quite fruitful. Relevant to a variety of disciplines, including mathematical physics, continuum mechanics, and materials science, Continuum Models for Phase Transitions and Twinning in Crystals is your opportunity to explore these current research methods and topics.

This book presents the Proceedings of the 54th Winter School of Theoretical Physics on Simplicity of Complexity in Economic and Social Systems, held in Ladek Zdroj, Poland, from 18 to 24 February 2018. The purpose of the book is to introduce the new interdisciplinary research that links statistical physics, and particular attention is given to link physics of complex systems, with financial analysis and sociology. The main tools used in these areas are numerical simulation of agents behavior and the interpretation of results with the help of complexity methods, therefore a background in statistical physics and in physics of phase transition is necessary to take the first steps towards these research fields called econophysics and sociophysics. In this perspective, the book is intended to graduated students and young researchers who want to begin the study of this established new area, which connects physicists, economists, sociologists and IT professionals, to better understand complexity phenomena existing not only in physics but also in complex systems being seemingly far from traditional view at physics.

This book is dedicated to the atmosphere of our planet, and discusses historical and contemporary achievements in meteorological science and technology for the betterment of society. The book explores many significant atmospheric phenomena and physical processes from the local to global scale, as well as from the perspective of short and long-term time scales, and links these processes to various applications in other scientific disciplines with linkages to meteorology. In addition to addressing general topics such as climate system dynamics and climate change, the book also discusses atmospheric boundary layer, atmospheric waves, atmospheric chemistry, optics/photometeors, electricity, atmospheric modeling and numeric weather prediction. Through its interdisciplinary approach, the book will be of interest to researchers, students and academics in meteorology and atmospheric science, environmental physics, climate change dynamics, air pollution and human health impacts of atmospheric aerosols.