This book—the first of two companion volumes, together with a third dedicated entirely to exercises—is devoted to introducing the standard techniques of statistical mechanics; presenting a practical, operative, and attentive approach to the recurring structures that link different areas of statistical physics.It strikes a balance between breadth and an accessible walk-through approach to calculations and concepts that students and researchers will encounter across the many corners ...

Casimir effects serve as primary examples of directly observable manifestations of the nontrivial properties of quantum fields, and as such are attracting increasing interest from quantum field theorists, particle physicists, and cosmologists. Furthermore, though very weak except at short distances, Casimir forces are universal in the sense that all material objects are subject to them. They are thus also an increasingly important part of the physics of atom-surface interactions, while in ...