14

duced for any other system which can be formed from this by
a continuous transformation without passing through one of
the singular systems referred to below. In fact, in examining
the necessary conditions for the explanation of the second
law of thermodynamics Ehrenfest1 ) has deduced a cer-
tain general condition as regards the variation of the a-priori
probability corresponding to a small change of the external
conditions from which it follows, that the a-priori probability
of a given stationary state of an atomic system must remain
unaltered during a continuous transformation, except in spe-
cial cases in which the values of the energy in some of the
stationary states will tend to coincide during the transfor-
mation. In this result we possess, as we shall see, a rational
basis for the determination of the a-priori probability of the
different stationary states of a given atomic system.

§ 2. Systems of one degree of freedom.

As the simplest illustration of the principles discussed in
the former section we shall begin by considering systems of
a single degree of freedom, in which case it has been possi-
ble to establish a general theory of stationary states. This
is due to the fact that the motion will be simply periodic,
provided the distance between the parts of the system will
1
) P. Ehrenfest, Phys. Zeitschr. XV p. 660 (1914). The above
interpretation of this relation is not stated explicitly by Ehrenfest,
but it presents itself directly if the quantum theory is taken in the form
corresponding to the fundamental assumption I.