Chance in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics

Chance in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics

In two recent papers Barry Loewer (2001, 2004) has suggested to interpret probabilities in statistical mechanics as chances in David Lewis's (1994) sense. I first give a precise formulation of this proposal, then raise two fundamental objections, and finally conclude that these can be overcome only at the price of interpreting these probabilities epistemically. 1. Introduction. Consider a gas t...

Probability in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics

Typicality and the Approach to Equilibrium in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics

Systems prepared in a non-equilibrium state approach, and eventually reach, equilibrium. Why do they do so? An important contemporary version of the Boltzmannian approach to statistical mechanics answers this question in terms of typicality. The problem with this approach is that it comes in different versions, which are, however, not recognised as such and not clearly distinguished. The aim of...

Reconceptualising equilibrium in Boltzmannian statistical mechanics and characterising its existence

In Boltzmannian statistical mechanics macro-states supervene on microstates. This leads to a partitioning of the state space of a system into regions of macroscopically indistinguishable micro-states. The largest of these regions is singled out as the equilibrium region of the system. What justifies this association? We review currently available answers to this question and find them wanting b...

Justifying Typicality Measures of Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics and Dynamical Systems

A popular view in contemporary Boltzmannian statistical mechanics is to interpret the measures as typicality measures. In measuretheoretic dynamical systems theory measures can similarly be interpreted as typicality measures. However, a justification why these measures are a good choice of typicality measures is missing, and the paper attempts to fill this gap. The paper first argues that Pitow...