= Solution
The <microcanonical ensemble> fixes energy, volume and particle number; the <canonical ensemble> fixes temperature, volume and particle number; and the <grand canonical ensemble> fixes temperature, volume and chemical potential while allowing particle exchange. For macroscopic systems with short-range interactions, away from phase coexistence and other nonconcave regimes, relative fluctuations vanish in the thermodynamic limit and the ensembles give equivalent local thermodynamics.
Back to article page