Statistical Mechanics of Disordered Systems: A Mathematical Perspective

This self-contained book is a graduate-level introduction for mathematicians and for physicists interested in the mathematical foundations of the field, and can be used as a textbook for a two-semester course on mathematical statistical mechanics. It assumes only basic knowledge of classical physics and, on the mathematics side, a good working knowledge of graduate-level probability theory. The book starts with a concise introduction to statistical mechanics, proceeds to disordered lattice spin systems, and concludes with a presentation of the latest developments in the mathematical understanding of mean-field spin glass models. In particular, progress towards a rigorous understanding of the replica symmetry-breaking solutions of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick spin glass models, due to Guerra, Aizenman-Sims-Starr and Talagrand, is reviewed in some detail.

Author: Anton Bovier
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 06/01/2006
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.90h x 6.60w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780521849913