Remarks on Condensation Theory

Abstract

A qualitative argument is presented which shows that the van Kampen asymptotic theory of condensation implies a long-range limit similar to those used in the Kac-Uhlenbeck-Hemmer and Lebowitz-Penrose formulations. The discussion entails a novel operational prescription of the thermodynamic limit, which helps to bridge an existing conceptual gap between the asymptotic and exact theories.