= Solution
The <ergodic hypothesis> states that long-time averages of equilibrium observables along typical trajectories equal their ensemble averages on the accessible <phase space> with the same conserved quantities. It permits <statistical mechanics> to predict measured macroscopic quantities from equilibrium distributions rather than tracking a trajectory. In its microcanonical form the measure is on the constant-energy surface. It is an assumption about the relevant dynamics, not a consequence of particles being noninteracting; the calculations below use the equilibrium <canonical ensemble> at temperature $T$.
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