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Statistical physics is one of the fundamental theories of physics, dealing with mathematical
description of nature. Statistical physics can describe a wide variety of fields which are treated statistically due to their
inherently probabilistic nature. Examples include problems such as
nuclear reactions, and topics in the fields of biology, chemistry,
neurology and even sociology.
The term statistical physics encompasses statistical approaches to classical
mechanics and quantum mechanics. Statistical mechanics is then often used as a synonym. When the
context requires a distinction, one uses the terms classical statistical
mechanics and quantum statistical mechanics.
A statistical approach can work well in classical systems when the number of degrees of freedom (and so the number of variables) is so large that exact solution is not possible, or
not really useful. Statistical mechanics can also describe work in non-linear dynamics, chaos theory, thermal
physics, fluid dynamics, or plasma physics.
Although some problems in statistical physics can be solved analytically using approximations and expansions, most current
research utilizes the large processing power of modern computers to simulate or approximate solutions. A common approach to
statistical problems is to use a Monte Carlo
simulation, to yield insight into the dynamics of a complex system.
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