Partition Function (statistical Mechanics)
In physics, a partition function describes the statistics, statistical properties of a system in thermodynamic equilibrium. Partition functions are function (mathematics), functions of the thermodynamic state function, state variables, such as the temperature and volume. Most of the aggregate thermodynamics, thermodynamic variables of the system, such as the energy, total energy, Thermodynamic free energy, free energy, entropy, and pressure, can be expressed in terms of the partition function or its derivatives. The partition function is dimensionless. Each partition function is constructed to represent a particular statistical ensemble (which, in turn, corresponds to a particular Thermodynamic free energy, free energy). The most common statistical ensembles have named partition functions. The canonical partition function applies to a canonical ensemble, in which the system is allowed to exchange heat with the Environment (systems), environment at fixed temperature, volume, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Environment (systems)
An open system is a system that has external interactions. Such interactions can take the form of information, energy, or material transfers into or out of the system boundary, depending on the discipline which defines the concept. An open system is contrasted with the concept of an isolated system which exchanges neither energy, matter, nor information with its environment. An open system is also known as a flow system. The concept of an open system was formalized within a framework that enabled one to interrelate the theory of the organism, thermodynamics, and evolutionary theory. This concept was expanded upon with the advent of information theory and subsequently systems theory. Today the concept has its applications in the natural and social sciences. In the natural sciences an open system is one whose border is permeable to both energy and mass. By contrast, a closed system is permeable to energy but not to matter. The definition of an open system assumes that ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Microstate (statistical Mechanics)
In statistical mechanics, a microstate is a specific configuration of a system that describes the precise positions and momenta of all the individual particles or components that make up the system. Each microstate has a certain probability of occurring during the course of the system's thermal fluctuations. In contrast, the macrostate of a system refers to its macroscopic properties, such as its temperature, pressure, volume and density. Treatments on statistical mechanics define a macrostate as follows: a particular set of values of energy, the number of particles, and the volume of an isolated thermodynamic system is said to specify a particular macrostate of it. In this description, microstates appear as different possible ways the system can achieve a particular macrostate. A macrostate is characterized by a probability distribution of possible states across a certain statistical ensemble of all microstates. This distribution describes the probability of finding the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Probability Distribution
In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution is a Function (mathematics), function that gives the probabilities of occurrence of possible events for an Experiment (probability theory), experiment. It is a mathematical description of a Randomness, random phenomenon in terms of its sample space and the Probability, probabilities of Event (probability theory), events (subsets of the sample space). For instance, if is used to denote the outcome of a coin toss ("the experiment"), then the probability distribution of would take the value 0.5 (1 in 2 or 1/2) for , and 0.5 for (assuming that fair coin, the coin is fair). More commonly, probability distributions are used to compare the relative occurrence of many different random values. Probability distributions can be defined in different ways and for discrete or for continuous variables. Distributions with special properties or for especially important applications are given specific names. Introduction A prob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discrete Mathematics
Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that can be considered "discrete" (in a way analogous to discrete variables, having a bijection with the set of natural numbers) rather than "continuous" (analogously to continuous functions). Objects studied in discrete mathematics include integers, Graph (discrete mathematics), graphs, and Statement (logic), statements in Mathematical logic, logic. By contrast, discrete mathematics excludes topics in "continuous mathematics" such as real numbers, calculus or Euclidean geometry. Discrete objects can often be enumeration, enumerated by integers; more formally, discrete mathematics has been characterized as the branch of mathematics dealing with countable sets (finite sets or sets with the same cardinality as the natural numbers). However, there is no exact definition of the term "discrete mathematics". The set of objects studied in discrete mathematics can be finite or infinite. The term finite mathematics is sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Quantum Mechanics
Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is the foundation of all quantum physics, which includes quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science. Quantum mechanics can describe many systems that classical physics cannot. Classical physics can describe many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic and Microscopic scale, (optical) microscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at very small submicroscopic (atomic and subatomic) scales. Classical mechanics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation that is valid at ordinary scales. Quantum systems have Bound state, bound states that are Quantization (physics), quantized to Discrete mathematics, discrete values of energy, momentum, angular momentum, and ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Classical Mechanics
Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics involved Scientific Revolution, substantial change in the methods and philosophy of physics. The qualifier ''classical'' distinguishes this type of mechanics from physics developed after the History of physics#20th century: birth of modern physics, revolutions in physics of the early 20th century, all of which revealed limitations in classical mechanics. The earliest formulation of classical mechanics is often referred to as Newtonian mechanics. It consists of the physical concepts based on the 17th century foundational works of Sir Isaac Newton, and the mathematical methods invented by Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Leonhard Euler and others to describe the motion of Physical body, bodies under the influence of forces. Later, methods bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degrees Of Freedom
In many scientific fields, the degrees of freedom of a system is the number of parameters of the system that may vary independently. For example, a point in the plane has two degrees of freedom for translation: its two coordinates; a non-infinitesimal object on the plane might have additional degrees of freedoms related to its orientation. In mathematics, this notion is formalized as the dimension of a manifold or an algebraic variety Algebraic varieties are the central objects of study in algebraic geometry, a sub-field of mathematics. Classically, an algebraic variety is defined as the solution set, set of solutions of a system of polynomial equations over the real number, .... When ''degrees of freedom'' is used instead of ''dimension'', this usually means that the manifold or variety that models the system is only implicitly defined. See: * Degrees of freedom (mechanics), number of independent motions that are allowed to the body or, in case of a mechanism made of seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Mathematical Expression
In mathematics, an expression is a written arrangement of symbols following the context-dependent, syntactic conventions of mathematical notation. Symbols can denote numbers, variables, operations, and functions. Other symbols include punctuation marks and brackets, used for grouping where there is not a well-defined order of operations. Expressions are commonly distinguished from '' formulas'': expressions are a kind of mathematical object, whereas formulas are statements ''about'' mathematical objects. This is analogous to natural language, where a noun phrase refers to an object, and a whole sentence refers to a fact. For example, 8x-5 is an expression, while the inequality 8x-5 \geq 3 is a formula. To ''evaluate'' an expression means to find a numerical value equivalent to the expression. Expressions can be ''evaluated'' or ''simplified'' by replacing operations that appear in them with their result. For example, the expression 8\times 2-5 simplifies to 16-5, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Contact
In heat transfer and thermodynamics, a thermodynamic system A thermodynamic system is a body of matter and/or radiation separate from its surroundings that can be studied using the laws of thermodynamics. Thermodynamic systems can be passive and active according to internal processes. According to inter ... is said to be in thermal contact with another system if it can exchange energy through the process of heat. Perfect thermal isolation is an idealization as real systems are always in thermal contact with their environment to some extent. When two solid bodies are in contact, a resistance to heat transfer exists between the bodies. The study of heat conduction between such bodies is called thermal contact conductance (or thermal contact resistance). References See also * Thermal equilibrium - When two objects A and B are in thermal contact and there is no net transfer of thermal energy from A to B or from B to A, they are said to be in thermal equilibrium. The majority ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Meaning And Significance
Meaning most commonly refers to: * Meaning (linguistics), meaning which is communicated through the use of language * Meaning (non-linguistic), a general term of art to capture senses of the word "meaning", independent from its linguistic uses * Meaning (philosophy), definition, elements, and types of meaning discussed in philosophy * The meaning of life, the significance, purpose, or worth of human existence Meaning may also refer to: * Meaning (psychology), epistemological position, in psychology as well as philosophy, linguistics, semiotics and sociology * Meaning (semiotics), the distribution of signs in sign relations * Meaning (existential), the meaning of life in contemporary existentialism * Meaning, the product of a process of a meaning-making * Meaning, "the individual's sense of understanding events in which he is engaged", described in Arts and entertainment * ''Meanings'' (album), a 2004 album by Gad Elbaz * "Meaning" (''House''), a 2006 episode of the TV seri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Partition Function (mathematics)
The partition function or configuration integral, as used in probability theory, information theory and dynamical systems, is a generalization of the definition of a partition function in statistical mechanics. It is a special case of a normalizing constant in probability theory, for the Boltzmann distribution. The partition function occurs in many problems of probability theory because, in situations where there is a natural symmetry, its associated probability measure, the Gibbs measure, has the Markov property. This means that the partition function occurs not only in physical systems with translation symmetry, but also in such varied settings as neural networks (the Hopfield network), and applications such as genomics, corpus linguistics and artificial intelligence, which employ Markov networks, and Markov logic networks. The Gibbs measure is also the unique measure that has the property of maximizing the entropy for a fixed expectation value of the energy; this under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |