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Journal of Physics Conference Series

On quantum-mechanical origin of statistical mechanics

Yuho Yokoi, Sumiyoshi Abe

Published Nov 1, 2018• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The problem of deriving statistical mechanics from the stationary Schrödinger equation is discussed. The interaction Hamiltonian, which dynamically induces entanglement of the specific type, is constructed in a unified way based on the gauge principle. It is shown how microcanonical ensembles in both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics emerge in the vanishing-interaction limit.

DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/1113/1/012012

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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character•Dec 1, 1926•40 citations
The problem of deriving statistical mechanics from the stationary Schrödinger equation is discussed. The interaction Hamiltonian, which dynamically induces entanglement of the specific type, is constructed in a unified way based on the gauge principle. It is shown how microcanonical ensembles in both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics emerge in the vanishing-interaction limit.
Abstract A possible quantum-mechanical origin of statistical mechanics is discussed, and microcanonical and canonical ensembles of bosons and fermions are derived from the stationary Schrödinger equation in a unified manner. The interaction Hamiltonians are constructed using discrete phase operators and the gauge-theoretical structure associated with them. It is shown how interaction Hamiltonians, stipulated by the gauge symmetry, generate the specific patterns of entanglement desired for establishing microcanonical ensembles. A discussion is also made about the interrelation between random phases and perfect decoherence in the vanishing-interaction limit.
A previous one-dimensional derivation of Schrödinger's equation from statistical assumptions is generalized to three spatial dimensions, gauge fields, and spin. It is found that the same statistical assumptions that imply Schrödinger's equation determine also the form of the gauge coupling terms, and the form of the corresponding local (Lorentz) forces. An explanation for the role of the electrodynamic potentials, as statistical representatives of the Lorentz force, is given. Spin one-half is introduced as the property of a statistical ensemble to respond to an external gauge field in two different ways. A generalized calculation, using the twofold number of variables, leads to Pauli's equation. The new spin term is again the statistical representative of the corresponding local force. The classical limit ℏ→0\hbar \to 0ℏ→0 of Schrödinger's equation and closely related questions of interpretation of the quantum mechanical formalism are discussed.
The study of quantum statistical mechanics begins with a review of the basic principles of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger’s equation is introduced and Eigenstates (or stationary states) are defined. Model probability for quantum statistics is assumed to have a uniform distribution in phases. Wave functions for many-body systems are defined. The density matrix is introduced. The Planck entropy and the microcanonical ensemble are defined. The differences between classical and quantum statistical mechanics are all based on the differing concepts of a microscopic ‘state’. While the classical microscopic state (specified by a point in phase space) determines the exact position and momentum of every particle, the quantum mechanical state determines neither; quantum states can only provide probability distributions for observable quantities.
Abstract Planck’s original introduction of the quantum idea was based on a statistical mechanical treatment of black body radiation. S. Bose, a physicist working in India, found a new way of deriving Planck’s law. Einstein applied Bose’s method to a gas of massive particles. This led to the prediction of a new physical effect (Bose-Einstein condensation). With the introduction of the exclusion principle by Pauli, Fermi, and Dirac independently introduced a new kind of statistics. Considerations by Einstein and Schrödinger introduced a preliminary form of second quantization.
A previous derivation of the single-particle Schrödinger equation from statistical assumptions is generalized to an arbitrary number NNN of particles moving in three-dimensional space. Spin and gauge fields are also taken into account. It is found that the same statistical assumptions that imply Schrödinger's equation determine also the form of the gauge coupling terms, and the form of the corresponding local (Lorentz) forces. An explanation for the role of the electrodynamic potentials, as statistical representatives of the Lorentz force, is given. For a single particle, spin one-half is introduced as the property of a statistical ensemble to respond to an external gauge field in two different ways. A generalized calculation, using the twofold number of variables, leads to Pauli's equation. The new spin term is again the statistical representative of the corresponding local force. For a NNN-particle system, spin is introduced as a consequence of gauge coupling.The classical limit ℏ→0\hbar \to 0ℏ→0 of Schrödinger's equation and closely related questions of interpretation of the quantum mechanical formalism are discussed.
Abstract It is well known that a new form of statistical mechanics has been recently developed by Einstein for an ideal gas of structureless mass-points. This starts from a discussion by Bose of the laws of temperature radiation based on the light quantum hypothesis, and has been further analysed by Schrödinger. Yet another new form has been proposed independently by Fermi and Dirac. The latter based his theory on a discussion of lightly coupled systems with the help of Schrödinger’s equation. Combined with Heisenberg’s work on the many-body problem, Dirac’s work forces us to conclude at least that the classical form of statistical mechanics must be changed. It indicates that the true form, which satisfies the laws of the new mechanics, is almost certainly that of Fermi and Dirac, which is the natural generalization of Pauli’s principle of exclusion for electronic orbits in an atom. The work of Heisenberg and Dirac already quoted has shown that Pauli’s principle and its extension are satisfied in the new mechanics by a complete self-consistent solution of the equations of motion. So far as I am aware, the discussions of the new forms have as yet dealt only with the statistics of a gas of structureless mass-points (and, of course, temperature radiation). There has, moreover, been as yet no attempt to define the entropy (and the absolute temperature) in strict analogy with rational thermodynamics by means of the equation dQ = TdS. If another definition is preferred, then this equation must be deduced from it. It has, therefore, seemed worth while to reopen the discussion by examining ab initio a quite general form of statistical mechanics of which the classical form and instein’s and Fermi-Dirac’s are special cases. This is rendered possible by using the powerful method of complex integration already applied to the classical form. The sequence of the argument is then to take the general form, which covers a very large range of ways of assigning possibilities and counting complexions, and construct on that basis exact integral expressions for the number of complexions possible to the assembly and for the average number of systems of the assembly in their various quantum states. We then derive from these the average energies and external reactions and so the form of dQ, deduce from dQ the existence of S and so define S and T. This can be done in the general form for assemblies of ideal systems just as general as can be handled in the classical way—ideal gases of molecules of any structure and crystals and radiation. Such assemblies are in all cases thermodynamical systems.