The general statistical problem in physics and the theory of probability

Abstract

In this paper, we have shown that in a large number of statistical problems arising in physics, it is either advantageous or necessary to go outside the framework of concepts that appear in the theory of probability. Among such problems are the following: An inspection of the above list would suggest that the problems of statistical physics in which the theory of probability does not apply are perhaps even more important than those in which it does apply. A systematic attack in statistical problems going outside the scope of the theory of probability, coupled with an effort to develop new formal systems that are more general than that of the calculus of probabilities, would therefore be likely to produce fruitful results.