Undergrad Help with an ideal gas canonical ensemble partition function integral

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The discussion centers on understanding the origin of volume in a mathematical context, specifically relating to integrals in physics. It highlights the expression for volume as an integral over position coordinates, represented as ##\int \prod_{i=1}^N\left(d^3\vec{q}_i\right)=V^N##. Participants recognize that the remaining calculations involve a 3N-dimensional Gaussian integral over momenta. This clarification helps solidify the understanding of how volume is derived in this framework. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the mathematical foundations of volume in physics.
AndreasC
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TL;DR
I'm reading Mehran Kardar's book on statistical mechanics, and it's great but super terse. I am trying very hard to understand a particular integral that is used over and over again for ideal gases, with no luck so far. Any help? I've posted a relevant picture below.
IMG_20201124_192841.jpg


Where does the volume even come from? Any help would be appreciated!
 
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AndreasC said:
Where does the volume even come from? Any help would be appreciated!

I'm not a physicist, but it looks just like ##\int \prod_{i=1}^N\left(d^3\vec{q}_i\right)=V^N## since the ##q_i## are presumably position coordinates.
 
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Infrared said:
I'm not a physicist, but it looks just like ##\int \prod_{i=1}^N\left(d^3\vec{q}_i\right)=V^N## since the ##q_i## are presumably position coordinates.
Oh, dammit, yeah, that where it comes from haha! Somehow I missed it. And then I guess the rest is just a 3N dimensional Gaussian integral over the momenta, right? Nice, that makes sense.
 
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