An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Statistical physics: A state of a physical system that is described in terms of the system’s overall or average properties at a macroscopic level (→ temperature, → pressure, → density, → internal energy, etc.). A macrostate will generally consist of many different → microstates. In defining a macrostate we ignore what is going on at the microscopic (atomic/molecular) level. The → probability of a certain macrostate is determined by how many microstates correspond to this macrostate. Therefore, the greater the number of microstates which lead to a particular macrostate, the greater the probability of observing that macrostate. Same as → macroscopic state. See also → entropy, → Boltzmann’s entropy formula, → multiplicity.

See also: → macro-; → state.