Canonical ensemble in non-extensive statistical mechanics

The framework of non-extensive statistical mechanics, proposed by Tsallis, has been used to describe a variety of systems. The non-extensive statistical mechanics is usually introduced in a formal way, using the maximization of entropy. In this paper we investigate the canonical ensemble in the non-extensive statistical mechanics using a more traditional way, by considering a small system interacting with a large reservoir via short-range forces. The reservoir is characterized by generalized entropy instead of the Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy. Assuming equal probabilities for all available microstates we derive the equations of the non-extensive statistical mechanics. Such a procedure can provide deeper insight into applicability of the non-extensive statistics.