Statistical Theory of Equations of State and Phase Transitions. I. Theory of Condensation and Statistical Theory of Equations of State and Phase Transitions. II. Lattice Gas and Ising Model in The Physical Review, Volume 87, Number 3, August 1, 1952, pp. 404-409, pp. 410-419

Lancaster: American Institute of Physics, 1952. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS of the first full version (both parts one and two) of the Lee-Yang theorem, two "seminal papers that became classics in the field of statistical mechanics" (Hu, Yang-Lee-Fisher Zeros). Yang and Lee state "that if partition functions of certain models in statistical field theory with ferromagnetic interactions are considered as functions of an external field, then all zeros are purely imaginary (or on the unit circle after a change of variable)" (Wikipedia). The first paper "proposed a general theory of phase transitions by studying the distribution of the roots of the grand partition function, thenceforth known as 'Yang-Lee zeroes.' The second paper applied the general theory to the lattice gas and the Ising model and obtained the famous 'Lee-Yang circle theorem'" (Hu).

Lee and Yang's papers were "the dream of physicist's life-time accomplishment" (Zhu, Lee-Yang theorem, MIT). They provided a "new way of looking at the nature of phase transitions and suggested that... partition functions as functions of external fields (in the case of Ising model, this would be magnetic fields), whose domains can be extended to the complex plane" (ibid).

Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Franklin Yang are Chinese born American physicists. They were jointly awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theory that weak force interactions among elementary particles did not conserve parity (spatial symmetry). CONDITION & DETAILS: Lancaster: American Institute of Physics. 4to. 10.5 x 7.75 inches (262 x 194mm). Bound in original wraps rebacked. Very faint library stamps on the front and rear wrap as well as the first page; literally the stamps are very difficult to even see. Otherwise fine condition in every way.