Fundamentals of Classical Statistical Thermodynamics: Dissipation, Relaxation, and Fluctuation Theorems

Both a comprehensive overview and a treatment at the appropriate level of detail, this textbook explains thermodynamics and generalizes the subject so it can be applied to small nano- or biosystems, arbitrarily far from or close to equilibrium. In addition, nonequilibrium free energy theorems are covered with a rigorous exposition of each one. Throughout, the authors stress the physical concepts along with the mathematical derivations. For researchers and students in physics, chemistry, materials science and molecular biology, this is a useful text for postgraduate courses in statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and molecular simulations, while equally serving as a reference for university teachers and researchers in these fields.

Author Biography: Denis Evans is professor of chemistry in the Research School of Chemistry, ANU, Canberra Australia. Having obtained his Ph.D. from ANU, he worked at Oxford and Cornell Universities and the NIST Boulder CO before taking up his present appointment. Professor Evans has authored ~300 scientific publications and a research monograph. He has received numerous scientific awards, including the Boys-Rahman Lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London), and the H.G. Smith medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences. Debra Bernhardt Searles is a professor in the School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, and Director of the Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre at Griffith University, Australia. Debra obtained her PhD from Newcastle University, Australia in 1991 and held postdoctoral research positions at University of Basel, Switzerland, The Australian National University and University of Queensland, Australia. She joined Griffith University in 2000. Debra has published over 90 scientific publications. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Stephen Williams is a Research Fellow in the Research School of Chemistry, ANU, Canberra. Stephen obtained his PhD from RMIT University, Melbourne in 2001 and held a postdoctoral research position in the Universiteit Utrecht before joining ANU in 2003.

Introduction Introduction to Time Reversible, Thermostatted Dynamical Systems Phase Space Distributions and Thermodynamic Ensembles Fluctuation Theorem and Corollaries Dissipation Theorem - Response Theory Relaxation Theorem Nonequilibrium Free Energy Theorems Causality Experiments Conclusion