Abstract
These notes, like my lectures in Erice consist of several parts which are loosely related by the fact that they all deal with some aspects of statistical mechanics of Coulomb systems. In some sense of course all of statistical mechanics, which is the microscopic theory of macroscopic matter, deals with Coulomb systems. The properties of the materials we see and touch are almost entirely determined by the nature of the Coulomb force as it manifests itself in the collective behavior of interacting electrons and nuclei. In most applications of statistical mechanics however this fact is not explicit at all. One starts with an “effective” short range microscopic Hamiltonian appropriate to the problem at hand. For example, to discuss the superfluidity of He4 we describe the fluid as a collection of neutral atoms represented by point masses interacting via Lennard-Jones pair potentials. This description seems very adequate. Statistical mechanics of Coulomb systems therefore usually refers to those investigations in which the Coulomb potential is explicitly considered as a part of the starting microscopic Hamiltonian. (Appropriate quantum statistics are always assumed).
Research supported in part by NSF Grant PHY 78-15920
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Lebowitz, J.L. (1981). Free Energy and Correlation Functions of Coulomb Systems. In: Velo, G., Wightman, A.S. (eds) Rigorous Atomic and Molecular Physics. NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series, vol 74. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3350-0_11
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