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Stochastic processes in chemical physics
4nnals of NuclearEneroy, Vol. 5, p. 95. Pergamon Press 1978. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS Atomic Energy Review Volume 15, No. 2, Neutron Radiography, IAEA, Vienna 1977, 363 pp. Price $9.00. The use of neutrons in radiographic investigations has grown substantially during recent years. To help in the dissemination of the knowledge acquired, the IAEA has prepared an issue of Atomic Energy Review devoted entirely to neutron radiography. There are eight articles written by experienced workers in the field and covering many aspects of the problem. Basic contents are: technological developments, physical and mathematical processes, equipment, inspection of nuclear fuels, hydrogen transport in matter, industrial applications, uses in metallurgical work and a summary and suggestions for future applications. All the articles are clearly written and the whole forms an ideal introduction to the subject as well as a concise review of achievements.
Professor o] Nuclear Engineerin 9, Queen Mary College, University of London
M. M. R. WILLIAMS
Stochastic Processes in Chemical Physics, by I. OPPENHEIM, K. E. SHULER and G. H. WEISS, MIT Press, 1977, 561 pp. Price £14.00. The applications of stochastic processes are increasing rapidly and are finding their way into many branches of physics and engineering. Even well established equations are given new areas of relevance when it is shown that the underlying statistical processes have a common basis. This is particularly true in nuclear engineering when we have to deal with a system that has both intrinsic and mechanically induced noise sources. It is of great value
therefore to discover a book that examines the underlying stochastic derivation of an equation that we so frequently employ, viz. the Boltzmann equation. Although in its full generality this balance equation in phase space is called the master equation, it clearly reduces in many practical cases to the conventional transport equation. The authors have divided the book into two parts, (1t three chapters on the fundamentals of probability and the derivation of the master equation and (2) five chapters on relevant reprints which, although in some cases applying to chemical physics problems, are really of general interest to kinetic theory afficionados. In the three introductory chapters it is shown how statistical averages can be taken to reduce the general probability balance equation to physically meaningful quantities. In particular the two-point distribution is discussed in some detail for the Markov process. The great simplicity of this process is pointed out and some techniques for solving the resulting balance equations are discussed for continuous and discrete systems. In the succeeding chapters of reprints, a scholarly selection has been made which takes one through most of the modern source papers. We find, for example, papers on the Fokker Planck equation and its relation to the master equation, first passage time problems, gas phase relaxation processes, chemical kinetics and the dynamics of chain molecules. This is a most refreshing book to read and will form a convenient starting point for those wishing to enter the field and also as entertainment for old-timers who would just like to wander pleasantly down memory lane.
Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Queen Mar), College, University of London
95
M. M. R. WILLIAMS
BOOK REVIEWS Atomic Energy Review Volume 15, No. 2, Neutron Radiography, IAEA, Vienna 1977, 363 pp. Price $9.00. The use of neutrons in radiographic investigations has grown substantially during recent years. To help in the dissemination of the knowledge acquired, the IAEA has prepared an issue of Atomic Energy Review devoted entirely to neutron radiography. There are eight articles written by experienced workers in the field and covering many aspects of the problem. Basic contents are: technological developments, physical and mathematical processes, equipment, inspection of nuclear fuels, hydrogen transport in matter, industrial applications, uses in metallurgical work and a summary and suggestions for future applications. All the articles are clearly written and the whole forms an ideal introduction to the subject as well as a concise review of achievements.
Professor o] Nuclear Engineerin 9, Queen Mary College, University of London
M. M. R. WILLIAMS
Stochastic Processes in Chemical Physics, by I. OPPENHEIM, K. E. SHULER and G. H. WEISS, MIT Press, 1977, 561 pp. Price £14.00. The applications of stochastic processes are increasing rapidly and are finding their way into many branches of physics and engineering. Even well established equations are given new areas of relevance when it is shown that the underlying statistical processes have a common basis. This is particularly true in nuclear engineering when we have to deal with a system that has both intrinsic and mechanically induced noise sources. It is of great value
therefore to discover a book that examines the underlying stochastic derivation of an equation that we so frequently employ, viz. the Boltzmann equation. Although in its full generality this balance equation in phase space is called the master equation, it clearly reduces in many practical cases to the conventional transport equation. The authors have divided the book into two parts, (1t three chapters on the fundamentals of probability and the derivation of the master equation and (2) five chapters on relevant reprints which, although in some cases applying to chemical physics problems, are really of general interest to kinetic theory afficionados. In the three introductory chapters it is shown how statistical averages can be taken to reduce the general probability balance equation to physically meaningful quantities. In particular the two-point distribution is discussed in some detail for the Markov process. The great simplicity of this process is pointed out and some techniques for solving the resulting balance equations are discussed for continuous and discrete systems. In the succeeding chapters of reprints, a scholarly selection has been made which takes one through most of the modern source papers. We find, for example, papers on the Fokker Planck equation and its relation to the master equation, first passage time problems, gas phase relaxation processes, chemical kinetics and the dynamics of chain molecules. This is a most refreshing book to read and will form a convenient starting point for those wishing to enter the field and also as entertainment for old-timers who would just like to wander pleasantly down memory lane.
Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Queen Mar), College, University of London
95
M. M. R. WILLIAMS