# Understanding statistical mechanics for a non-physicist [duplicate]

I study statistics and not physics, but I am interested in the role probabilities have within physics, e.g. within classical mechanics. I wonder whether it is possible to understand classical mechanics (or any other physical field that is based on probabilities) with basically no pre-knowledge of physics? And if so how would you recommend me to approach this topic. My main interest is the philosophical interpretation of probabilities (are probabilities objetive, etc.) and I am currently reading the book "Probabilities in physics" (2011) which is sometimes hard to follow without an understanding of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, etc.. What I hope for is that an understanding of statistical mechanics will improve my understanding of probabilities.

So my question is basically which books would you recommend to achieve this goal? Or which topics would you reccoomend me to try to understand?

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## marked as duplicate by Emilio Pisanty, sammy gerbil, stafusa, Kyle Kanos, Cosmas ZachosAug 10 '18 at 15:27

• I'm not sure what your definition of "knowledge of physics" is, as you seem to have assumed that classical mechanics isn't physics (if you meant it to be part of physics, your question, "Is it possible to understand [area of physics] with basically no knowledge of physics?" doesn't make much sense). – probably_someone Aug 8 '18 at 15:16
• I mean with no preknowledge – Sebastian Aug 8 '18 at 15:54
• I think the short answer is no, it's not possible. But maybe start looking at the Ising model. It is a big part of statistical physics and has a simple mathematical description. – stochastic Aug 8 '18 at 16:04
• I think that the way to understand statistical mechanics is, in short, to become a physicist. You can do this by starting as a non-physicist because all physicists do that, but I don't think there's a very useful way to 'cheat' and only understand the bits that somehow don't involve physics. – tfb Aug 8 '18 at 16:58

The problem is that an undergraduate statistical mechanics course will typically meld with a lot of thermodynamics and thus touch on very conventional physicsy analysis -- things like the kinetic theory of gases, reversible engines, defining the entropy as $\int dQ/T$, which might not suit the path that you're trying to go down. Advanced statistical mechanics courses are liable to be more mathematical but they also require a more high-level view of physics which may be more accessible but maybe not. For example, one needs to introduce the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian pictures of physics in order to derive a key result called Liouville's theorem.