Abstract
With the introduction of the Schroedinger equation in 1926 it became possible to resolve one of the fundamental paradoxes of the atomic theory of matter (which itself had only become universally accepted a few decades earlier): Why do the electrons not fall into the nucleus?(Jeans, 1915). Following this success, more complicated questions posed themselves. Why is the lowest energy of bulk matter extensive, i.e. why is it proportional to N, the number of particles, instead of to some higher power of N? Next, why do the ordinary laws of thermodynamics hold? Why, in spite of the long range Coulomb force, can a block of matter be broken into two pieces which, after a microscopic separation, are independent of each other?
The aim of these lectures is to answer the above questions in a simple and coherent way. It is a summary of research I have been engaged in for the past few years, and it has been my good fortune to have had the benefit of collaboration with J.L. Lebowitz, B. Simon and W.E. Thirring. Without their insights and stimulation probably none of this could have been carried to fruition.
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Lieb, E.H. (2010). Many Particle Coulomb Systems. In: Gallavotti, G. (eds) Statistical Mechancis. C.I.M.E. Summer Schools, vol 71. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11108-2_3
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