Dynamical approach to the microcanonical ensemble.
An analytical method to compute thermodynamic properties of a given Hamiltonian system is proposed. This method combines ideas of both dynamical systems and ensemble approaches to thermodynamics, providing de facto a possible alternative to traditional ensemble methods. Thermodynamic properties are extracted from effective motion equations. These equations are obtained by introducing a general variational principle applied to an action averaged over a statistical ensemble of paths defined on the constant energy surface. The method is applied first to the one-dimensional beta-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain and to the two-dimensional lattice straight phi(4) model. In both cases, the method gives a good insight of some of their statistical and dynamical properties.
Leoncini
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Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, 251 Mercer Street, New York, New York 10012, USA. leoncini@cims.nyu.edu
Verga
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