In this model, the probability density of a particular allowed state is given by the reciprocal of the area of the phase space energy surface, which Aleksandr Khinchin called “fundamental distribution law.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this model used to describe the equilibrium probability distribution of closed, isolated systems.
ANSWER: microcanonical ensemble [accept NVE ensemble; reject “canonical ensemble”]
[10m] Khinchin’s “fundamental distribution law” also describes the time-average distributions of classical systems with this property. As a result, in systems with this property, all microstates are equally probable over time.
ANSWER: ergodic [accept ergodicity]
[10e] The ergodic hypothesis was formulated by this Austrian physicist, who also co-names the distribution followed by the canonical ensemble with Maxwell.
ANSWER: Ludwig Boltzmann [or Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann; accept Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution]
<Jeremy Cummings, Physics>