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On the foundations of statistical mechanics : Concepts and applications
Whenever basic hypothesis such as ergodicity are not satisfied, the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics, based on the additive Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy, can yield results that are not confirmed by experiments. A more general theory, namely nonextensive statistical mechanics, based on nonadditive entropies, satisfactorily cover a wide class of such anomalous, though ubiquitous, situations in natural, artificial and social systems. A brief review of the present status of this thermostatistical approach will be presented.
Bibliography : see http://tsallis.cat.cbpf.br/biblio.htm
