Abstract
What is a low temperature? Before we can start to consider the properties of matter and experimental techniques at low temperatures we must answer this question. Everyone has an opinion on the matter. Most would describe the inside of a domestic food freezer as being at a rather low temperature. However, an inhabitant of the polar regions would probably find it nothing out of the ordinary. The point is that there is really no absolute answer to this question and that it depends on the context in which we are speaking. Certainly, as far as this book is concerned, the inside of the domestic food freezer is at a very high temperature! This question also raises another: What exactly do we mean by the temperature of something?
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Bibliography
Suggested Background Reading on Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
Landau, L. D. and Lifshitz, E. M. (1959). Statistical Physics ( Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley )
Pippard, A. B. (1957). The Elements of Classical Thermodynamics ( London: Cambridge University Press )
Reif, F. (1965). The Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics ( New York: McGraw-Hill )
Sprackling, M. (1991). Thermal Physics (Basingstoke and London: Macmillan)
Wilks, J. (1961). The Third Law of Thermodynamics ( London: Oxford University Press )
Zemansky, M. W. (1957). Heat and Thermodynamics, fourth edition ( New York: McGraw-Hill )
Texts on Low-Temperature Physics
Mackinnon, L. (1966). Experimental Physics at Low Temperatures ( Detroit: Wayne State University Press )
McClintock, M. (1964). Cryogenics ( New York: Reinhold )
McClintock, P. V. E., Meredith, D. J. and Wigmore, J. K. (1984). Matter at Low Temperatures ( London: Blackie )
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© 1993 Anthony Kent
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Kent, A. (1993). Introduction. In: Experimental low-temperature physics. Macmillan Physical Science Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22736-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22736-5_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-51951-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-22736-5
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