Einstein's approach to statistical mechanics: the 1902--04 papers

DOI10.1007/S10955-016-1615-8MaRDI QIDQ2403248zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Luca Peliti, Raul Rechtman

Publication date 8 September 2017

Published in Journal of Statistical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.04890

zbMATH Keywords

Einsteinensemble theoryfluctuationsfoundations of statistical mechanicsthermodynamics

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mathematics in the 20th century (01A60) History of statistical mechanics (82-03) Foundations of equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B03) Statistical thermodynamics (82B30)

Abstract: We summarize the papers published by Einstein in the Annalen der Physik in the years 1902-04 on the derivation of the properties of thermal equilibrium on the basis of the mechanical equations of motion and of the calculus of probabilities. We point out the line of thought that led Einstein to an especially economical foundation of the discipline, and to focus on fluctuations of the energy as a possible tool for establishing the validity of this foundation. We also sketch a comparison of Einstein's approach with that of Gibbs, suggesting that although they obtained similar results, they had different motivations and interpreted them in very different ways.

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Cites work

• Atoms, entropy, quanta: Einstein's miraculous argument of 1905
• Einstein and the foundation of statistical mechanics
• Ergodicity, ensembles, irreversibility in Boltzmann and beyond.
• Gibbs, Einstein and the foundations of statistical mechanics
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• Insuperable difficulties: Einstein's statistical road to molecular physics

Cited in

(15)

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