- #1
bobloblaw
- 19
- 0
Hey guys a simple question about the postulate about equal a priori probabilites in thermal equilibrium in statistical mechanics.
I was thinking about the case of N non-interacting simple harmonic oscillators in thermal equilibrium. Shouldn't those phase space states that have single particle states with p near zero be more probable than those states with p near pmax? SInce particles near p = 0 spend more time in that neighborhood. I guess more generally wouldn't those phase states for which the total kinetic energy is minimized being more likely? I assume I'm not thinking about this properly but I can't
I was thinking about the case of N non-interacting simple harmonic oscillators in thermal equilibrium. Shouldn't those phase space states that have single particle states with p near zero be more probable than those states with p near pmax? SInce particles near p = 0 spend more time in that neighborhood. I guess more generally wouldn't those phase states for which the total kinetic energy is minimized being more likely? I assume I'm not thinking about this properly but I can't