Statistical Physics, Third Edition, Part 1: Course of Theoretical Physics, Volume 5 is a 15-chapter text that covers some theoretical physics-related topics, including thermodynamics, ideal gases, phase equilibrium, and chemical reactions.
This volume deals with the properties of gases, the thermodynamics of a degenerate plasma, liquid crystals, the fluctuation theory of phase transitions, and critical phenomena. Other chapters discuss the topics of solids, symmetry of crystals, and the theory of rreducible representations of space groups as applied to physics of the crystal state. This volume also explores the fluctuation-dissipation theorem; the Fermi and Bose distributions; non-ideal gases; phase equilibrium; and solutions.
This book is of great value to theoretical physicists, researchers, and students.
As close as pure poetry as a physics textbook can get. This is physics for real men - no watering down, over-explained chewing-gum cheerleader stuff - this is Physics the Russian way!
I love statistical physics. Hands down, it's one of my favorite physical courses thus far. That said, I picked up Landau & Lifshitz as a complementary book to my regular textbook. I respect the work of both authors very much and I hoped that the book will broaden my knowledge on my favorite subject. Alas, the book has two faults (hence the two stars missing). The writing style of the authors doesn't sit well with me. I had the same problem with their Classical mechanics, so I suppose that the writing of Statistical physics is not a singular occurrence. Not my cup of tea.
The second problem is that the book is very advanced. As an undergraduate student just starting out with my statistical physics course, picking up this book wasn't a good idea. At the time, I was not able to derive expressions and formulas on my own, and I needed a detailed textbook where I could follow the derivations (that require several pages) and read the explanations behind every step. That's over the top for beginners.
Absolute classic in the field. Clear and intuitive presentation. Particularly impressive the way Quantum and classical theories are presented cohesively.
the first half of the book explain SM in different way from other books it use different picture (beside mental copies ) about ensemble members and adjust heavily density matrix in classic part so it can be more logical to change toward QSM ... CAUTION.. almost the half of the book is about is about Solid State Physics and despite the size of the book, many new applications of SM , like phase transition.. do not fully treated...
This loses a star only because I don't like stat phys. That said, this is the best book for it that I have seen. I used Landau/Lifschitz instead of the assigned text (Pathria).