nLab Boltzmann distribution

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Context

Physics

physics, mathematical physics, philosophy of physics

Surveys, textbooks and lecture notes


theory (physics), model (physics)

experiment, measurement, computable physics

Measure and probability theory

Contents

Idea

In thermodynamics, the Boltzmann distribution is the probability distribution on the space of configurations of a physical system which maximizes the entropy subject to the constraint that the expectation value of the energy is fixed.

It is characterized by a probability density proportional to the exponential of the energy weighted my minus the inverse temperature:

dpe EkTdE, d p \;\propto\; e^{ - \frac{E}{k T} } \, d E \,,

where kk is Boltzmann's constant (a physical unit).

References

Named after Ludwig Boltzmann.

See also:

Last revised on April 23, 2021 at 16:48:32. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.