Textbook in PDF format

This book offers a comprehensive overview of thermodynamics. It is divided into four parts, the first of which equips readers with a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics of equilibrium states and of their evolution. The second part applies these principles to a series of generalized situations, presenting applications that are of interest both in their own right and in terms of demonstrating how thermodynamics, as a theory of principle, relates to different fields. In turn, the third part focuses on non-equilibrium configurations and the dynamics of natural processes. It discusses both discontinuous and continuous systems, highlighting the interference among non-equilibrium processes, and the nature of stationary states and of fluctuations in isolated systems. Lastly, part four introduces the relation between physics and information theory, which constitutes a new frontier in fundamental research.
The book includes step-by-step exercises, with solutions, to help readers to gain a fuller understanding of the subjects, and also features a series of appendices providing useful mathematical formulae. Reflecting the content of modern university courses on thermodynamics, it is a valuable resource for students and young scientists in the fields of physics, chemistry, and engineering.
Table of contents
Macroscopic Systems and Empirical Temperature
The First Principle of Thermodynamics
The Second Principle of Thermodynamics
The Fundamental Relation and the Thermodynamic Potentials
Maxwell Relations
General Properties of Gaseous Systems
Phase Transitions
Surface Systems
Electrostatic Field
Magnetic Field
Thermodynamics of Radiation
Third Law of Thermodynamics
Irreversible Processes: Fundamentals
Irreversible Processes: Applications
Thermodynamics of Continua
Introduction to the Role of Information in Physics