The Principles of Statistical Mechanics
E145215
The Principles of Statistical Mechanics is a classic 1938 textbook by Richard C. Tolman that systematically develops the foundations of statistical mechanics and its applications to thermodynamics and physical chemistry.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Principles of Statistical Mechanics canonical | 1 |
| The Principles of Statistical Mechanics (book) | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1263709 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics Context triple: [Richard C. Tolman, notableWork, The Principles of Statistical Mechanics]
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A.
Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy in statistical mechanics
Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy in statistical mechanics is the standard measure of disorder or uncertainty in a system, quantifying how many microscopic configurations correspond to a given macroscopic state and forming the basis of classical equilibrium statistical mechanics.
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B.
Carathéodory’s formulation of the second law of thermodynamics
Carathéodory’s formulation of the second law of thermodynamics is a mathematically rigorous restatement of the second law based on the inaccessibility of certain thermodynamic states, providing a foundation for the concept of entropy without relying on cyclic processes or heat engines.
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C.
Journal of Statistical Physics
Journal of Statistical Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on research in statistical mechanics and related areas of theoretical physics.
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D.
Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases
Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases is a foundational 1860 scientific paper by James Clerk Maxwell that introduced key ideas of kinetic theory and the statistical behavior of gas molecules.
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E.
statistical physics
Statistical physics is a branch of physics that uses probabilistic and mathematical methods to explain the collective behavior and macroscopic properties of systems with many particles.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics Target entity description: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics is a classic 1938 textbook by Richard C. Tolman that systematically develops the foundations of statistical mechanics and its applications to thermodynamics and physical chemistry.
-
A.
Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy in statistical mechanics
Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy in statistical mechanics is the standard measure of disorder or uncertainty in a system, quantifying how many microscopic configurations correspond to a given macroscopic state and forming the basis of classical equilibrium statistical mechanics.
-
B.
Carathéodory’s formulation of the second law of thermodynamics
Carathéodory’s formulation of the second law of thermodynamics is a mathematically rigorous restatement of the second law based on the inaccessibility of certain thermodynamic states, providing a foundation for the concept of entropy without relying on cyclic processes or heat engines.
-
C.
Journal of Statistical Physics
Journal of Statistical Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on research in statistical mechanics and related areas of theoretical physics.
-
D.
Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases
Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases is a foundational 1860 scientific paper by James Clerk Maxwell that introduced key ideas of kinetic theory and the statistical behavior of gas molecules.
-
E.
statistical physics
Statistical physics is a branch of physics that uses probabilistic and mathematical methods to explain the collective behavior and macroscopic properties of systems with many particles.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
non-fiction book ⓘ physics textbook ⓘ |
| academicDiscipline |
physical chemistry
ⓘ
theoretical physics ⓘ |
| author | Richard C. Tolman ⓘ |
| authorFullName |
Richard Chace Tolman
ⓘ
linked to:
Richard C. Tolman
|
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| era | 20th-century scientific literature ⓘ |
| field |
physical chemistry
ⓘ
statistical mechanics ⓘ thermodynamics ⓘ |
| genre | scientific literature ⓘ |
| hasAuthorProfession |
physical chemist
ⓘ
physicist ⓘ |
| hasReputation | classic text in statistical mechanics ⓘ |
| influenced |
development of modern statistical mechanics
ⓘ
physics education in statistical mechanics ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| notableFor |
detailed discussion of ensembles
ⓘ
rigorous connection between statistical mechanics and thermodynamics ⓘ systematic axiomatic treatment of statistical mechanics ⓘ treatment of relativistic statistical mechanics ⓘ |
| originalMedium | print ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1938 ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
kinetic theory
ⓘ
quantum mechanics ⓘ thermodynamics ⓘ |
| subject |
Boltzmann statistics
ⓘ
linked to:
Boltzmann distribution
Bose–Einstein statistics ⓘ Fermi–Dirac statistics ⓘ Gibbs ensembles ⓘ
linked to:
Gibbs ensemble
Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution ⓘ
linked to:
Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics
applications to physical chemistry ⓘ entropy ⓘ equilibrium statistical mechanics ⓘ fluctuation theory ⓘ foundations of statistical mechanics ⓘ irreversibility ⓘ kinetic theory of gases ⓘ partition function ⓘ quantum statistics ⓘ thermodynamic ensembles ⓘ thermodynamic limit ⓘ |
| timePeriodDescribed | early 20th century statistical mechanics ⓘ |
| usedAs | graduate-level textbook ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics Description of subject: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics is a classic 1938 textbook by Richard C. Tolman that systematically develops the foundations of statistical mechanics and its applications to thermodynamics and physical chemistry.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Tolman
linked to: The Principles of Statistical Mechanics