Carlo Heissenberg is a postdoctoral scholar at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (Nordita) in Stockholm, and Uppsala University. He received his Ph.D. from Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, with a thesis on asymptotic symmetries and higher spin theories, and his research is now focused on the interface between scattering amplitudes and gravitational waves. Augusto Sagnotti is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Scuola Normale Superiore and has taught the statistical physics course there since 2017. His research is focused on gravitational physics and conformal field theory, and his pioneering contribution led to the introduction of orientifold vacua in string theory. He is a recipient of the prestigious Humboldt Research Award.
The concepts and methods of Statistical Physics play a key role, not always fully perceived, in all branches of Physics. With this textbook, aimed primarily at advanced undergraduates but useful also for experienced researchers, Heissenberg and Sagnotti explain clearly and convincingly why it is so. Besides presenting a modern exposition of the basic facts of Statistical Physics well equipped with problems, a stimulating and broad range of advanced topics is introduced, whetting the appetite of the determined reader and pushing them to go farther to Quantum Field Theory and Mathematical Physics.' Prof. Roberto Raimondi, Universita Roma Tre 'In its presentation of statistical mechanics, this book is unique for its emphasis on the quantum mechanical underpinnings. It would make a great text for a multi-disciplinary course on many-body physics for upper-division undergraduates or beginning graduate students. Even in the more-elementary first half, the book is full of underappreciated gems, and gives glimpses of a broad view of Theoretical Physics as a whole. The second half boasts a uniform and elementary treatment of the Onsager solution, the Bethe ansatz, the Renormalization Group, and the approach to equilibrium.' Prof. John McGreevy, University of California, San Diego