Bogolubov N N Bogolubov – författare

Introduction to Quantum Statistical Mechanics (Second Edition) may be used as an advanced textbook by graduate students, even ambitious undergraduates in physics. It is also suitable for non experts in physics who wish to have an overview of some of the classic and fundamental quantum models in the subject. The explanation in the book is detailed enough to capture the interest of the reader, and complete enough to provide the necessary background material needed to dwell further into the subject and explore the research literature.

This monograph is an amplification of a set of special lectures delivered by the authors in the Physics Department of Moscow State University. The linear polaron model is studied. It is shown that the system is soluble for arbitrary coupling interaction strength between the electron and lattice vibrations. Detailed calculational techniques for obtaining the correlation, spectral and Green functions are given. The thermodynamic properties of the system are studied within the framework of the functional method.

The linear polaron model is an excellent example of an exactly soluble, yet nontrivial polaron system. It serves as a trial system or zero-level approximation in many sophisticated methods of polaron investigation. This book analyzes, in particular, the possibility of reduction of the full polaron Hamiltonian to the linear one, and introduces a special method of calculating thermodynamical characteristics based on the calculation of the averages of T-products. This T-product formalism seems to be a more convenient way of doing similar calculations involving Feynman''s path integral approach.This book follows a step-by-step approach, from comparatively simple physical ideas to a clear understanding of sophisticated mathematical tools of investigation in modern polaron physics. The reader is able to compare the physical point of view with methods proposed in the book, and at the same time grasp the underlying mathematics.Some familiarity with quantum statistical mechanics is desirable in reading this book.