Memory Formalism, Nonlinear Techniques, and Kinetic Equation Approaches

Abstract

Distinct applications of the tools of statistical mechanics to address several unconnected complex observations in interdisciplinary science are explained in four parts. The first deals with the memory function formalism and its application to varied topics: the origin of irreversibility, photosynthesis, sensitized luminescence, stress distribution in granular compacts, and magnetic resonance imaging. The second focuses on techniques of nonlinear equations applied to problems ranging from the Davydov soliton and the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation, to the propagation of epidemics and the Fisher equation. The third part discusses a few meeting places for the twin procedures of memory methods and nonlinear techniques. The fourth describes miscellaneous applications based on the Fokker‐Planck and the Boltzmann equations to topics of current interest in ceramic science and condensed matter physics.