Probability Distributions In Quantum Statistical Mechanics

Probability Distributions in Quantum Statistical Mechanics

The Enigma of Probability and Physics

Lazar Mayants is a recent Russian emigre noted for his work in theoretical physics. He was previously a professor at several universities of the Soviet Union and a distinguished member of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R, where he worked for about 30 years. In this book he presents a unique, extremely detailed, and embracive version of a subject that has suffered for a long time from numerous internal imperfections. His approach is new and original, the material covered features not only the foundations of the science of probability but also most of its applications, including statistical and quantum mechanics. The key methodolOgical principle underlying the book is of extraordinary significance and deserves special attention. The treatment excels in thoroughness of presentation, in its fulness of mathe matical detail and the abundance of physical examples. The book is intended for a wide range of people interested in probability and its connection with modern science. It is written as a text for advanced students, and I predict that a reader who masters all its contents will become an expert in the subject of both prob ability and its physical implications, while enjoying its understanding and use. HENRY MARGENAU Veritas nihil veretur nisi abscondi (truth 'What tremendously easy riddles you ask!' Humpty Dumpty growled out. fears nothing except being hidden). Latin proverb Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, Chap. 6. Preface The history of producing this book is rather complicated and not quite usual.

Chance and Temporal Asymmetry

Chance and Temporal Asymmetry presents a collection of cutting-edge research papers in the metaphysics of science, tackling the perplexing philosophical problems raised by recent progress in the physics and metaphysics of chance and time. How do the probabilities found in fundamental physics and the probabilities of the special sciences relate to one another? Can a constraint on the initial conditions of the universe underwrite the second law of thermodynamics? How does contemporary quantum theory reframe debates over the nature of chance? What grounds do we have for believing in a fundamental direction to time? And how do all these questions connect up? The aim of the volume is both to survey and summarize recent debates about chance and temporal asymmetry and to push them forward. Familiar approaches are subjected to searching new critiques, and bold new proposals are made concerning (inter alia) the semantics of chance-attributions, the justification of the Principal Principle connecting chance and degree of belief, and the source of the temporal asymmetry of human experience. The contributors include world-leading figures in the field, all presenting new work rather than rehashing old ideas, as well as a number of promising junior scholars. A wide-ranging introduction connects the different chapters together, and provides essential background to the debates they take up. Technicality is kept to a minimum and philosophical and conceptual foundations take centre stage. Chance and Temporal Asymmetry sets the agenda for future work on time and chance, which are central to the emerging sub-field of metaphysics of science. It will be indispensable to graduate students and to specialists in metaphysics and philosophy of science.