Colombo L. Statistical Physics of Condensed Matter Systems. A Primer 2022

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Our modern physical picture of condensed matter defines ordinary systems as an assembly of interacting atoms or molecules. This holds for any aggregate, either solid, liquid or gaseous. According to this atomistic picture, any observed macroscopic property can be intended as the result of organised actions occurring among a really huge1 number of elementary constituents. However, any phenomena emerging at the macroscale can hardly be described by considering each single constituent and its interplay with all the remaining ones, simply because there are too many degrees of freedom to be managed. Even more important: pretending to follow each atom or molecule would be a rather clumsy approach, since most of the atomic-scale details are in fact averaged out and, therefore, their overall inclusion in a physical model would be a pedantic solution adding no meaningful knowledge.
Introduction to: Statistical Physics of Condensed Matter Systems: A primer
Classical statistical physics
The statistical description of a classical system
Thermal properties of classical gases
Quantum statistical physics
The statistical description of a quantum system
Thermal properties of quantum gases
Other quantum systems and phenomena
Concluding remarks
What is missing in this ‘Primer’
Appendices
Appendix A: Mathematical tools
Appendix B: Gibbs entropy
Appendix C: Thermodynamic potentials
Appendix D: Calculating the grand partition function of a real gas
Appendix E: Fermi–Dirac distribution law: a phenomenological derivation
Appendix F: The conceptual framework for solid-state physics
Appendix G: Bose–Einstein distribution law: a phenomenological derivation
Appendix H: Density of states of the blackbody radiation