I give a highly selective overview of the way statistical mechanics explains the microscopic origins of the time-asymmetric evolution of macroscopic systems towards equilibrium and of first-order phase transitions in equilibrium. These phenomena are emergent collective properties not discernible in the behavior of individual atoms. They are given precise and elegant mathematical formulations when the ratio between macroscopic and microscopic scales becomes very large.
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Joel L. Lebowitz (1999) studied this question.
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