ABSTRACT
Jayendran C Rasaiah Had I been present at the creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe. Alphonso X, Learned King of Spain, 1252-1284
A2.3.1 Introduction
Statistical mechanics provides a link between the microscopic properties of a system at an atomic or molecular level, and the equilibrium and dynamic properties measured in a laboratory. The statistical element follows from the enormously large number of particles involved, of the order of Avogadro’s number (6.023 × 1023), and the assumption that the measured properties (e.g. the pressure) are averages over instantaneous values. The equilibrium properties are determined from the partition function, while the transport coefficients of a system, not far from its equilibrium state, are related to equilibrium time correlation functions in the so-called linear response regime.
