Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / ii / Paper 2 / 37A / b / Solution

For the Gibbs entropyfirst maximize subject only to ${\sum }_n{p}_n=1$ over $\Omega$ accessible microstates. A Lagrange multiplier givesso every $p_n$ is equal. Normalization yields the microcanonical ensemble

For the canonical ensemble, impose both normalization and the mean-energy constraint ${\sum }_n{p}_n{E}_n=E$. Stationarity ofgives $p_n=C{e}^{-\beta E_n}$. The canonical partition function fixes $C$, soThermodynamic consistency identifies $\beta =(k_{B}T{)}^{-1}$. This is the maximum-entropy derivation of equilibrium ensembles.