Автор: Robert Robson, Ronald White, Malte Hildebrandt
Название: Fundamentals of Charged Particle Transport in Gases and Condensed Matter
Издательство: CRC Press
Год: 2017
Серия: Monograph Series in Physical Sciences
ISBN: 9781498736367
Язык: English
Формат: pdf
Размер: 14,5 mb
Страниц: 436

The foundations of modem transport theory were laid 150 years ago in a seminal paper presented to the Royal Society of London by J. Clerk Maxwell. He formulated the equations of change for the physical properties of a gas, represented as moments or averages over a velocity distribution function and paid particular attention to the influence of collisions. Six years later, Ludwig Boltzmann, undoubtedly influenced by Maxwell's results, presented a kinetic equation to the German Physical Society in Berlin, whose solution furnished the required distribution function. In spite of early criticism and subsequent intense scrutiny, Boltzmann's equation has withstood the test of time and has gone on to become a mainstay in the field of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, in general, and charged particle transport, in particular, the subject of this book. The key to the success and longevity of Boltzmann's equation is not only its ability to furnish accurate theoretical values of experimentally measured quantities, but also its remarkable flexibility and adaptability to systems and physics that Boltzmann could not possibly have foreseen.

Thus, there are generalizations of the kinetic equation to condensed matter, as discussed in this book, and to quantum and relativistic systems, discussed elsewhere.