The Mesoscopic Partition Function:A Combined Spatial and Phase-Space Cell Structure

TL;DR

This paper develops a mesoscopic partition function for classical many-body systems using spatial and phase-space coarse-graining, linking factorisation, extensivity, and correlations.

Contribution

It introduces a new mesoscopic partition function framework that unifies coarse-graining, factorisation, and thermodynamic extensivity in classical systems.

Findings

Factorisation of the mesoscopic partition function is equivalent to free energy extensivity.

Deviations from factorisation are governed by inter-cell correlations and mutual information.

A generalized Euler relation with boundary and correlation corrections is derived.

Abstract

We introduce a mesoscopic partition function for classical many-body systems based on a combined spatial and phase-space coarse-graining, replacing the canonical phase-space integral with a discrete sum over occupation numbers. The construction recovers the standard canonical partition function in the fine-graining limit. Our main result shows that factorisation of the mesoscopic partition function across spatial cells is equivalent to extensivity of the coarse-grained free energy, with deviations governed by inter-cell correlations quantifiable via mutual information. We derive a generalised Euler relation with a subextensive correction encoding boundary and correlation effects. Together, these results provide a unified framework linking coarse-graining, factorisation, and extensivity in mesoscopic thermodynamics.