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This topic is about history of physics so I decided to post it in general physics section but it would be nice to have a history of physics(or maybe science)section.
Anyway,during my statistical mechanics course,I realized QM is being used from the beginning,in contrast to other parts of physics where a classical theory is developed first and then there are quantum corrections.So I wondered whether there was a time that there was classical statistical mechanics.I know,you now tell "of course there was" but by classical statistical mechanics I mean not considering energy levels and degeneracies and considering energy as a continuous parameter.
I found Boltzmann's 1877 paper at http://www.trivialanomaly.com/ and took a look at it.In it,boltzmann assumes that particles can take velocities of the form [itex] \frac{p}{q} [/itex] and also he assumes that the energy(he uses the term "alive force" which I think he means energy)of any particle is an integer multiple of a constant factor.
Also in http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9710007.pdf , it is said that Max Planck was inspired by Boltzmann's ideas in his theory about black body radiation.
We know that maxwell independently had discovered maxwell-boltzmann distribution.I want to know had maxwell also have the idea of energy quantization or he just derived the distribution experimentally?
Also I will appreciate any ideas about classical statistical mechanics and whether there is a distribution which considers energy as a continuous parameter.
Thanks
Anyway,during my statistical mechanics course,I realized QM is being used from the beginning,in contrast to other parts of physics where a classical theory is developed first and then there are quantum corrections.So I wondered whether there was a time that there was classical statistical mechanics.I know,you now tell "of course there was" but by classical statistical mechanics I mean not considering energy levels and degeneracies and considering energy as a continuous parameter.
I found Boltzmann's 1877 paper at http://www.trivialanomaly.com/ and took a look at it.In it,boltzmann assumes that particles can take velocities of the form [itex] \frac{p}{q} [/itex] and also he assumes that the energy(he uses the term "alive force" which I think he means energy)of any particle is an integer multiple of a constant factor.
Also in http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9710007.pdf , it is said that Max Planck was inspired by Boltzmann's ideas in his theory about black body radiation.
We know that maxwell independently had discovered maxwell-boltzmann distribution.I want to know had maxwell also have the idea of energy quantization or he just derived the distribution experimentally?
Also I will appreciate any ideas about classical statistical mechanics and whether there is a distribution which considers energy as a continuous parameter.
Thanks