Preface; Acknowledgements; Notations and acronyms; 1. Brownian motion, Langevin and Fokker–Planck equations; 2. Linear response theory and transport phenomena; 3. From equilibrium to out-of-equilibrium phase transitions; 4. Out-of-equilibrium critical phenomena; 5. Stochastic dynamics of surfaces and interfaces; 6. Phase-ordering kinetics; 7. Highlights on pattern formation; Appendix A. Central limit theorem and its limitations; Appendix B. Spectral properties of stochastic matrices; Appendix C. Reversibility and ergodicity in a Markov chain; Appendix D. Diffusion equation and random walk; Appendix E. Kramers–Moyal expansion; Appendix F. Mathematical properties of response functions; Appendix G. The van der Waals equation; Appendix H. The Ising model; Appendix I. Derivation of the Ginzburg–Landau free energy; Appendix J. Kinetic Monte Carlo; Appendix K. Mean-field phase diagram of the bridge model; Appendix L. The deterministic KPZ and the Burgers' equation; Appendix M. The perturbative renormalization group for KPZ: a few details; Appendix N. The Gibbs–Thomson relation; Appendix O. The Allen–Cahn equation; Appendix P. The Rayleigh–Bénard instability; Appendix Q. General conditions for the Turing instability; Appendix R. Steady states of the one-dimensional TDGL equation; Appendix S. Multiscale analysis; Index.
A comprehensive and pedagogical text on nonequilibrium statistical physics, covering topics from random walks to pattern formation.
Roberto Livi is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Florence, where he teaches courses on statistical physics and thermodynamics. He is also the Director of the Interdepartment Center for the Study of Complex Dynamics and an associate member of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and of the Institute for Complex Systems of the National Research Council (CNR). Paolo Politi is Head of the Florence Unit of the Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council, and teaches statistical physics at the University of Florence. He is Fellow of the Marie Curie Association, of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He was awarded the Outreach Prize of the Italian Physical Society for promoting the public discussion of science through Science Cafés.
'Statistical physics has grown over the past few decades' way
beyond its original aims for the understanding of gases and thermal
systems at equilibrium, and it is hard to agree on its precise
scope, let alone to write a definitive textbook on the subject.
[This book] succeeds remarkably well in this task. Cutting a broad
swath through the many ramifications of statistical physics in
recent times, the book includes a comprehensive review of the many
techniques and paradigmatic systems that have come to be regarded
as standards of the field. Having solidly covered these essentials,
in the third and last part of the book the authors discuss a
smorgasbord of topics, from coarsening and kinetic roughening, to
pattern formation, to phase-ordering phenomena, selected from their
decades of research and expertise in these areas. The book is
ambitious and rather comprehensive in its scope. The explanations
are succinct and crystal clear, making the volume valuable not only
as a textbook but also as a reference work that is sure to become
ubiquitous on the shelves of students, teachers, and of young and
well-seasoned researchers alike.' Daniel ben-Avraham, Clarkson
University, New York
'Nonequilibrium statistical physics provides the foundation for a
plethora of interdisciplinary applications throughout the natural
sciences, and courses on this subject are therefore becoming an
integral part of physics curricula all over the world. Livi and
Politi systematically build up the material from the fundamentals
of stochastic processes and linear response theory to current
research topics, and explain every step in the most pedagogical and
transparent manner. This carefully crafted textbook is certain to
become a standard reference for years to come.' Joachim Krug,
University of Cologne
'The most elementary equilibrium theory is the one typically taught
in undergraduate courses, while the more advanced non-equilibrium
theory is usually left for postgraduate courses, whenever the
opportunity to teach it exists. However, there are rather few
textbooks on the field, and the existing ones are somewhat
specialised. Thus, the arrival of this book is highly welcome since
this is certainly a textbook on the subject primarily designed for
students. … The textbook is written with a pedagogical style and
the authors have paid much attention to just mentioning certain key
ideas, avoiding a detailed description that certainly would go
beyond its scope. … The textbook can be highly beneficial for
acquiring a good picture of non-equilibrium statistical physics. It
can be used for different purposes, and the contents can be adapted
to different levels of students.' Miguel A. F. Sanjuán,
Contemporary Physics
'Livi and Politi have set themselves the goal of presenting the
derivations in their book as fully as possible and well
comprehensible for students, which they overall succeed
in. With skill, they choose the most transparent and
pedagogically efficient access for each topic. The numerous
appendices are also very useful, in which mathematical bases such
as the central limit theorem or functional derivatives are treated
as well as further topics, such as the renormalization of the
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation. At the end of each chapter, the
authors give annotated bibliographic references to monographs and
reviews on the respective topic areas. With this textbook, the
authors make an important contribution to establishing and
canonising the statistical physics of non-equilibrium as one of the
liveliest areas of theoretical physics. Therefore, I wish the
book many readers and users.' Joachim Krug, translated from Physik
Journal
'The smart organizational choices mean that readers can get a
feeling for the physical concepts involved and for where to find
more information. A related website collects errata and offers
additional resources for students. In addition to difficult choices
of subject inclusion, Livi and Politi had to decide how much detail
to include … They present the essentials using simple language,
give a few examples, and provide a few references to more
specialized books and reviews. Then they move on to the next topic.
I found the chapters in the book to be reasonably self-contained.
Committed students can work through the whole book, and less
patient readers can concentrate on one or two chapters at a time.
Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics will be welcomed both by
students and researchers entering the field and by those who are
familiar with some recent developments and would like to learn more
about others.' Daan Frenke, Physics Today
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