Statistical Thermodynamics

Statistical Thermodynamics: Fundamentals and Applications discusses the fundamentals and applications of statistical thermodynamics for beginning graduate students in the engineering sciences. Building on the Maxwell-Boltzmann method of step-by-step development of the subject, this book makes few presumptions concerning students, previous exposure to statistics, quantum mechanics or spectroscopy. The book begins with the fundamentals of statistical thermodynamics, pauses to recover needed knowledge from quantum mechanics and spectroscopy, and then moves on to applications involving ideal gases, the solid state and radiation. A full introduction to kinetic theory is provided, including its applications to transport phenomena and chemical kinetics. Modern applications, such as laser-based diagnostics, are also discussed. Each chapter is carefully written to address student difficulties in learning this challenging subject, which is fundamental to combustion, propulsion, transport phenomena, spectroscopic measurements and nanotechnology. Students are made comfortable with their new knowledge by the inclusion of both example and prompted homework problems. • Provides a step-by-step introduction to statistical thermodynamics, including a careful exposition of quantum mechanics and spectroscopy • Contains carefully graded and prompted homework problems, including many worked-out example problems to help the student learn • An entire chapter discusses application of the subject to laser-based diagnostics for measurements of gaseous concentrations and temperature