Statistical Physics: Volume 1 of Modern Classical Physics (Modern Classical Physics, 1)

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century statistical physics and its applications Kip Thorne and Roger Blandford’s monumental Modern Classical Physics is now available in five stand-alone volumes that make ideal textbooks for individual graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on statistical physics; optics; elasticity and fluid dynamics; plasma physics; and relativity and cosmology. Each volume teaches the fundamental concepts, emphasizes modern, real-world applications, and gives students a physical and intuitive understanding of the subject. Statistical Physics is an essential introduction that is different from others on the subject because of its unique approach, which is coordinate-independent and geometric; embraces and elucidates the close quantum-classical connection and the relativistic and Newtonian domains; and demonstrates the power of statistical techniques–particularly statistical mechanics–by presenting applications not only to the usual kinds of things, such as gases, liquids, solids, and magnetic materials, but also to a much wider range of phenomena, including black holes, the universe, information and communication, and signal processing amid noise. Includes many exercise problems Features color figures, suggestions for further reading, extensive cross-references, and a detailed index Optional “Track 2” sections make this an ideal book for a one-quarter, half-semester, or full-semester course An online illustration package is available to professors The five volumes, which are available individually as paperbacks and ebooks, are Statistical Physics; Optics; Elasticity and Fluid Dynamics; Plasma Physics; and Relativity and Cosmology.