Abstract
In this chapter the microcanonical ensemble, which describes an isolated system, is introduced. In this ensemble the entropy and the temperature, i.e. the fundamental thermal variables of thermodynamics, are defined.
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Further Reading
J.W. Gibbs, The Scientific Papers (Dover Publications, New York, 1961). Difficult to read but of overwhelming historic influence.
R. Becker, Theory of Heat, 2nd edn. (Springer, Berlin, 1967). A good introduction to statistical physics.
A. Munster, Statistical Thermodynamics, vo1. 1 (Springer, Berlin, 1969). An advanced treatise of equilibrium statistical mechanics.
S.G. Brush, Statistical Physics and the Atomic Theory of Matter (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1983). Contains a short history of statistical physics.
C. Cercignani, Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms (Oxford University Press, London, 1998). A biography of one of the founding fathers of statistical physics.
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Baus, M., Tejero, C.F. (2021). Microcanonical Ensemble. In: Equilibrium Statistical Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75432-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75432-7_4
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