Paolo Grigolini and 50 Years of Statistical Physics

Book excerpt: This volume celebrates the over fifty-year career in non-equilibrium statistical physics of Professor Paolo Grigolini of the Center for Nonlinear Science at the University of North Texas. It begins by positioning Grigolini in a five-dimensional science-personality space with the following axes: Sleeper, Keeper, Leaper, Creeper and Reaper. This introduction to the person is followed by a sequence of papers in the various areas of science where his work has had impact, including subtle questions concerned with the connection between classical and quantum systems; a two-level atom coupled to a radiation field; classical probability calculus; anomalous diffusion that is Brownian yet non-Gaussian; a new method for detecting scaling in time series; and the effect of strong Anderson localization on ultrasound transmission, among other topics.