Abstract
In this paper I propose an interpretation of classical statistical mechanics that centers on taking seriously the idea that probability measures represent complete states of statistical mechanical systems. I show how this leads naturally to the idea that the stochasticity of statistical mechanics is associated directly with the observables of the theory rather than with the microstates (as traditional accounts would have it). The usual assumption that microstates are representationally significant in the theory is therefore dispensable, a consequence which suggests interesting possibilities for developing non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and investigating inter-theoretic answers to the foundational questions of statistical mechanics.
Highlights
A common lament in the literature on the foundations of statistical mechanics is the lack of a canonical formalism on which to base foundational discussions
In this paper I propose an interpretation of classical statistical mechanics that centers on taking seriously the idea that probability measures represent complete states of statistical mechanical systems
The usual assumption that microstates are representationally significant in the theory is dispensable, a consequence which suggests interesting possibilities for developing non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and investigating inter-theoretic answers to the foundational questions of statistical mechanics
Summary
A common lament in the literature on the foundations of statistical mechanics is the lack of a canonical formalism on which to base foundational discussions. He appears to take Prigogine as the main source of the interpretation and most of his substantive concerns address Prigogine’s idiosyncratic views Where his concerns touch on the general proposal, on the renouncing of an ontological reification of statistical mechanical microstates, he mostly gives irrelevant or question begging arguments. He claims that ‘‘denying the existence of the exact pointlike micro-state is neither necessary nor sufficient to solve our ultimate theoretical problems’’ (Sklar 1993, 366). These ideas, for example, to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics
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