Numerical studies for an ab initio investigation into the Boltzmann prescription in statistical mechanics of large systems

Abstract

We present numerical investigations into the question of the validity of the Boltzmann prescription in Statistical Mechanics for large systems, addressing the issue of whether extensivity of energy implies the extensivity of the Boltzmann entropy. The importance of the question stems from the fact that it is currently considered open by some investigators but quite settled by others. We report ab initio results for gas-like Hamiltonian systems with long-range as well as short-range interactions, based on simulations that explicitly consider more than 2 30 ≈ 10 9 states of the full Hilbert space. The basis of the technique is Monte Carlo algorithms. Despite the largeness of the numbers used, careful inspection shows that the systems studied are still too small to settle uniquely the issues raised. Therefore, the new approach outlined represents a first step in addressing on first principles the question of non-extensive statistical mechanics. General theoretical comments are also supplied to supplement the numerical investigations.