Skip to main content

Astronomy (thesaurus)

Search from vocabulary

Concept information

Preferred term

microcanonical ensemble  

Definition

  • In statistical mechanics, the microcanonical ensemble is a statistical ensemble that represents the possible states of a mechanical system whose total energy is exactly specified. The system is assumed to be isolated in the sense that it cannot exchange energy or particles with its environment, so that (by conservation of energy) the energy of the system does not change with time. The primary macroscopic variables of the microcanonical ensemble are the total number of particles in the system (symbol: N), the system's volume (symbol: V), as well as the total energy in the system (symbol: E). Each of these is assumed to be constant in the ensemble. For this reason, the microcanonical ensemble is sometimes called the NVE ensemble. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcanonical_ensemble)

Broader concept

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-QGJXJ2MP-3

Download this concept: