C*-Algebras and Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Statistical Mechanics av Jean-Bernard Bru, Walter Alberto de Siqueira Pedra

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This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the mathematical foundations of quantum statistical physics. It presents a conceptually profound yet technically accessible path to the C*-algebraic approach to quantum statistical mechanics, demonstrating how key aspects of thermodynamic equilibrium can be derived as simple corollaries of classical results in convex analysis. Using C*-algebras as examples of ordered vector spaces, this book makes various aspects of C*-algebras and their applications to the mathematical foundations of quantum theory much clearer from both mathematical and physical perspectives. It begins with the simple case of Gibbs states on matrix algebras and gradually progresses to a more general setting that considers the thermodynamic equilibrium of infinitely extended quantum systems. The book also illustrates how first-order phase transitions and spontaneous symmetry breaking can occur, in contrast to the finite-dimensional situation. One of the unique fea