Crossover from the exact factor to the Boltzmann factor

Citation
Jj. Prentis et al., Crossover from the exact factor to the Boltzmann factor, AM J PHYS, 67(6), 1999, pp. 508-515
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
ISSN journal
00029505 → ACNP
Volume
67
Issue
6
Year of publication
1999
Pages
508 - 515
Database
ISI
SICI code
0002-9505(199906)67:6<508:CFTEFT>2.0.ZU;2-#
Abstract
We derive the exact physical statistics of a system in thermal equilibrium with different environments-a gas, a spin, and a Boltzmann environment. The crossover from the exact factor to the Boltzmann factor is parametrized by scaled energy variables. The precise conditions that generate the Boltzman n factor emerge naturally. Such an analytic representation of the exact fac tor, the crossover, and the Boltzmann limit are not found in the standard m odel-free derivations of the Boltzmann factor. (C) 1999 American Associatio n of Physics Teachers.