An Introduction To Chaos In Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics (Broché)

This book is an introduction to the applications in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics of chaotic dynamics, and also to the use of techniques in statistical mechanics important for an understanding of the chaotic behaviour of fluid systems. The fundamental concepts of dynamical systems theory are reviewed and simple examples are given. Advanced topics including SRB and Gibbs measures, unstable periodic orbit expansions, and applications to billiard systems, are then explained. The text emphasises the connections between transport coefficients, needed to describe macroscopic properties of fluid flows, and quantities, such as Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropies, which describe the microscopic, chaotic behaviour of the fluid. Later chapters consider the roles of the expanding and contracting manifolds of hyperbolic dynamical systems and the large number of particles in macroscopic systems. Exercises, detailed references and suggestions for further reading are included. This book will bc of interest to graduate students and researchers, with a background in statistical mechanics, working in condensed matter physics, nonlinear science, theoretical physics, mathematics and theoretical chemistry. This series provides a vehicle for the publication of informal lecture note volumes in ail areas of theoretical and experimental physics for graduate students and researchers. It covers condensed matter physics, plasma physics, optics, atomic and molecular physics, particle physics, nuclear physics, field theory, relativity and cosmology, astrophysics, statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, and mathematical physics.