Statistical Physics (Course of Theoretical Physics, Volume 5) | 
| Authors: E M Lifshitz, L D Landau
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
Category: Book
List Price: $54.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 151657
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3rd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.4
ISBN: 0750633727
Dewey Decimal Number: 530
EAN: 9780750633727
ASIN: 0750633727
Publication Date: April 1984
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Product Description
A lucid presentation of statistical physics and thermodynamics which develops from the general principles to give a large number of applications of the theory.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Green's functions, superfluids, superconductors, magnetism December 12, 2004
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
This review is for Volume 9 of the Landau Course of Theoretical Physics.
The whole Course is clear and concise, so it makes sense for anyone who wants to do theoretical physics to go through all ten volumes.
We start off with normal Fermi liquids and gases, including a nice discussion of Zero Sound (which is distinguished from normal sound mostly by a slight increase in the sound velocity as one gets colder than a transition temperature, and by increased absorption of sound near the transition temperature). Then we learn about Green's functions in a Fermi system at T = 0 and Feynman diagram representations of them.
After that, we study Bose liquids and gases. That means the properties of superfluids, including quasi-particles (phonons and rotons) and quantized vortex filaments. And the book shows how to apply Green's functions to Bose liquids. There's an interesting section on the disintegration of quasi-particles. Next, we're introduced to Green's functions for T > 0, using the Matsubara operators to reduce the complexity of the diagrams.
And then we're ready to learn about superconductors. That means learning about Cooper pairing and superfluid Fermi gases, and learning how to apply Green's functions to them. And, not surprisingly, we learn the Ginzburg-Landau equations, so that we can determine the behavior of superconductors in magnetic fields in temperature ranges near the transition point.
There's also a chapter on electrons in the crystal lattice, including the de Hass-van Alphen effect (which refers to a metal's magnetic susceptibility oscillating as the strength of a strong magnetic field changes - due to the quantization of the energy levels of the electrons) and electron-phonon interactions. And there's a nice chapter on magnetism.
In the preface, the authors state "we must again stress that this book is part of a course of theoretical physics and in no way attempts to be a textbook of solid state theory." Are they kidding? This course is an excellent way to learn solid state physics.
Great Book, the best I've ever seen! August 24, 2001
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
no words can describe the richness and clarity of this book.the description of Maxwell's distribution, Gibbs formalism,etc...all with marvelous clarity and rigour. Everyone who wants to learn statistical Mechanics (under and graduates) MUST read this book.
Unrivalled Masterpiece May 6, 2001
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
This book is a classic, especially in the sense it is somewhat old fashioned in its basic approaches when compared with newer books. For example it examines statistics and entropy from the ergodic as opposed to the ensemble approach. Information Theory and role of symmetry and symmetry breaking is not treated in detail. However I can't hold these omissions against the book since these developments happend mostly in the late 70s.What Landau does here, and which in explicably very few Statistical Mechanics books do nowadays, is the full Gibbs Formalism. Not only is the Gibbs Formalism more compatible with Quantum Mechanics, it can also fits in beautifully with Ensemble Statistics and Inofrmation Theory. More over, it is at once clear Maxwell and Boltzmann statistics are only special cases of the Gibbs formalism, and can be easily shown in a few lines. What Landau does, is to gave an elegant and cohesive view the trully fundamental features of Statistical Mechanics. Chapters 1-6 of this book alone displays a deeper level of understanding than whole books that have been written. If you are interested in Statistical Mechanics at all, this must be a centerpiece of your library.
A UNIQUE BOOK ON MODERN STATISTICAL PHYSICS July 24, 1998
18 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is the Volume 9 of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz. All serious students of theoretical physics must possess the ten volumes of this excellente Course, which cover in detail and rigour practically all the branches of theoretical physics. The Volume 9 treats important specialized topics of modern statistical physics. These topics include the theory of quantum liquids(Fermi and Bose types), the theory of superfluidity, created by Landau to account for the phenomena ocurring in liquid helium at approximately 2 kelvin, the microscopic theory of superconductivity, the general method of Green's functions, so important to modern statistical physics, and some other topics, such as the quantum mechanics of a electron in a crystal lattice. The book still contains the general theory of electromagnetic and hydrodynamic fluctuations, treated in the spirit of the Green's functions. These topics are treated with rigour, efficiency and c! larity of language. For this reason, all readers with some aqquaintance with basic statistical physics can read and understand much of this book without major problems. Certainly there is not other book comparable with the Volume 9, a unique and valuable addition to the literature on modern statistical physics!
THE BEST BOOK ON STATISTICAL PHYSICS July 23, 1998
13 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is the Volume 5 of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz. All serious students of theoretical physics must possess the ten volumes of this excellent Course, which cover in detail and rigour practically all the branches of theoretical physics. The Volume 5 treats the subject of classical and quantum statistics. It contains an unusual approach of these subjects, based on the general Gibbs method, avoiding the introduction of ergodic hypotheses and, in the case of the ideal gas, of "a priori" probabilities, which are difficult to justify and serves only to obscure the exposition. The book is complete and contains chapters not usually found in other similar books, such as the chapter on second-order phase transitions. The clarity of exposition and rigour is notorious in this book. A magnific book!
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