Passivity and equilibrium for thermodynamical systems

Statistical mechanics is the study of physical systems consisting of a large number of subsystems (typically about 10^23 particles, such as a litre water or gas). Describing the state of such a system by giving all the positions and momenta of the particles is a very elaborate, if not impossible, way to treat such a system. The aim of statistical mechanics is to get around such difficulties. Many macroscopic properties of large systems can be described by a few number of so-called thermodynamic parameters: pressure, temperature etc.. It is believed, and verified experimentally, that these thermodynamic quantities are independent of the size of the system, provided the system is large enough. ... Zie: Summary