This volume comprises about forty research papers and essays covering a wide range of subjects in the forefront of contemporary statistical physics. The contributors are renown scientists and leading authorities in several different fields. This book is dedicated to P‚ter Sz‚pfalusy on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Emphasis is placed on his two main areas of research, namely phase transitions and chaotic dynamical systems, as they share common aspects like the applicability of the probabilistic approach or scaling behaviour and universality. Several papers deal with equilibrium phase transitions, critical dynamics, and pattern formation. Also represented are disordered systems, random field systems, growth processes, and neural network. Statistical properties of interacting electron gases, such as the Kondo lattice, the Wigner crystal, and the Hubbard model, are treated. In the field of chaos, Hamiltonian transport and resonances, strange attractors, multifractal characteristics of chaos, and the effect of weak perturbations are discussed. A separate section is devoted to selected mathematical aspects of dynamical systems like the foundation of statistical mechanics, including the problem of ergodicity, and rigorous results on quantum chaos.

This volume comprises about forty research papers and essays covering a wide range of subjects in the forefront of contemporary statistical physics. The contributors are renown scientists and leading authorities in several different fields. This book is dedicated to Péter Szépfalusy on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Emphasis is placed on his two main areas of research, namely phase transitions and chaotic dynamical systems, as they share common aspects like the applicability of the probabilistic approach or scaling behaviour and universality. Several papers deal with equilibrium phase transitions, critical dynamics, and pattern formation. Also represented are disordered systems, random field systems, growth processes, and neural network. Statistical properties of interacting electron gases, such as the Kondo lattice, the Wigner crystal, and the Hubbard model, are treated. In the field of chaos, Hamiltonian transport and resonances, strange attractors, multifractal characteristics of chaos, and the effect of weak perturbations are discussed. A separate section is devoted to selected mathematical aspects of dynamical systems like the foundation of statistical mechanics, including the problem of ergodicity, and rigorous results on quantum chaos.

Chaos: from simple models to complex systems aims to guide science and engineering students through chaos and nonlinear dynamics from classical examples to the most recent fields of research. The first part, intended for undergraduate and graduate students, is a gentle and self-contained introduction to the concepts and main tools for the characterization of deterministic chaotic systems, with emphasis to statistical approaches. The second part can be used as a reference by researchers as it focuses on more advanced topics including the characterization of chaos with tools of information theory and applications encompassing fluid and celestial mechanics, chemistry and biology. The book is novel in devoting attention to a few topics often overlooked in introductory textbooks and which are usually found only in advanced surveys such as: information and algorithmic complexity theory applied to chaos and generalization of Lyapunov exponents to account for spatiotemporal and non-infinitesimal perturbations. The selection of topics, numerous illustrations, exercises and proposals for computer experiments make the book ideal for both introductory and advanced courses. Sample Chapter(s). Introduction (164 KB). Chapter 1: First Encounter with Chaos (1,323 KB). Contents: First Encounter with Chaos; The Language of Dynamical Systems; Examples of Chaotic Behaviors; Probabilistic Approach to Chaos; Characterization of Chaotic Dynamical Systems; From Order to Chaos in Dissipative Systems; Chaos in Hamiltonian Systems; Chaos and Information Theory; Coarse-Grained Information and Large Scale Predictability; Chaos in Numerical and Laboratory Experiments; Chaos in Low Dimensional Systems; Spatiotemporal Chaos; Turbulence as a Dynamical System Problem; Chaos and Statistical Mechanics: Fermi-Pasta-Ulam a Case Study. Readership: Students and researchers in science (physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology) and engineering.

The field of phase transitions and critical phenomena continues to be active in research, producing a steady stream of interesting and fruitful results. It has moved into a central place in condensed matter studies.Statistical physics, and more specifically, the theory of transitions between states of matter, more or less defines what we know about 'everyday' matter and its transformations.The major aim of this serial is to provide review articles that can serve as standard references for research workers in the field, and for graduate students and others wishing to obtain reliable information on important recent developments.

Presents new computer methods in approximation, simulation, and visualization for a host of alpha-stable stochastic processes.

Quantum Probability and Related Topics is a series of volumes based on material discussed at the various QP conferences. It aims to provide an update on the rapidly growing field of classical probability, quantum physics and functional analysis.

The purpose of this volume is to give a detailed account of a series of re sults concerning some ergodic questions of quantum mechanics which have the past six years following the formulation of a generalized been addressed in Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy by A.Connes, H.Narnhofer and W.Thirring. Classical ergodicity and mixing are fully developed topics of mathematical physics dealing with the lowest levels in a hierarchy of increasingly random behaviours with the so-called Bernoulli systems at its apex showing a structure that characterizes them as Kolmogorov (K-) systems. It seems not only reasonable, but also inevitable to use classical ergodic theory as a guide in the study of ergodic behaviours of quantum systems. The question is which kind of random behaviours quantum systems can exhibit and whether there is any way of classifying them. Asymptotic statistical independence and, correspondingly, complete lack of control over the distant future are typical features of classical K-systems. These properties are fully characterized by the dynamical entropy of Kolmogorov and Sinai, so that the introduction of a similar concept for quantum systems has provided the opportunity of raising meaningful questions and of proposing some non-trivial answers to them. Since in the following we shall be mainly concerned with infinite quantum systems, the algebraic approach to quantum theory will provide us with the necessary analytical tools which can be used in the commutative context, too.

Building on the material learned by students in their first few years of study, Topics in Statistical Mechanics (Second Edition) presents an advanced level course on statistical and thermal physics. It begins with a review of the formal structure of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics considered from a unified viewpoint. There is a brief revision of non-interacting systems, including quantum gases and a discussion of negative temperatures. Following this, emphasis is on interacting systems. First, weakly interacting systems are considered, where the interest is in seeing how small interactions cause small deviations from the non-interacting case. Second, systems are examined where interactions lead to drastic changes, namely phase transitions. A number of specific examples is given, and these are unified within the Landau theory of phase transitions. The final chapter of the book looks at non-equilibrium systems, in particular the way they evolve towards equilibrium. This is framed within the context of linear response theory. Here fluctuations play a vital role, as is formalised in the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.The second edition has been revised particularly to help students use this book for self-study. In addition, the section on non-ideal gases has been expanded, with a treatment of the hard-sphere gas, and an accessible discussion of interacting quantum gases. In many cases there are details of Mathematica calculations, including Mathematica Notebooks, and expression of some results in terms of Special Functions.

The focus of this workshop was the development of mathematically-based techniques of formal specification of system behaviour, and the systematic development of implementations. The aim is to produce correct, efficient implementations in a reliable fashion. Topics covered at the workshop include category theory, logic, domain theory, semantics, concurrency, specification and verification. The papers published here range from the purely theoretical to practical applications.

"Evolution of Dynamical Structures in Complex Systems" is dedicated to the founder of synergetics, Hermann Haken, on the occasion of his 65th birthday. This volume is an attempt to gather together and review the new results and de velopments achieved by researchers from various fields during the last few years. The contents bear witness to the great success in the development of general approaches to synergetic systems as well as remarkable progress in the more tra ditional fields of synergetics such as lasers and nonlinear optics, hydrodynamics, condensed matter physics, biology, and sociology. Since their inception, the concepts of synergetics and rigorous mathematical theories have been extended to other scientific disciplines such as medicine, artifi cial intelligence and synergetic computers, and psychology. Here too, these ideas have yielded new insights, raised unexpected questions and produced innovations in both theoretical and experimental projects. The conception of self-organization, the central theme of Hermann Haken' s scientific work, has stimulated epistemo logical studies that draw relations between synergetics and the German romantic "Naturphilosophie". It is fascinating to observe how these intuitive notions of self-organization, etc., have now evolved into a precise and holistic scientific comprehension of synergetic systems. We express our deep gratitude to Dr. Angela Lahee from Springer-Verlag for her valuable help during the preparation of this book. Stuttgart R. Frjedrjch March 1992 .4.. Wunder}jn Contents Part I General Approaches On the Principles of Synergetics By A. Wunderlin ...................................... 3 Elements of a Synergetics of Evolutionary Processes By W. Ebeling ......................... . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 42 .