On the stochastic dynamics of Ising models

With the help of recent results in the mathematical theory of master equations, we present a rigorous derivation of the stochastic Glauber dynamics of Ising models from Hamiltonian quantum mechanics. A thermal bath is explicitly constructed and, as an illustration, the dynamics of the Ising-Weiss model is analyzed in the thermodynamic limit. We thus obtain an example of a nonequilibrium statistical mechanical system for which a link without mathematical gap can be established from microscopic quantum mechanics to a macroscopic irreversible thermodynamic process.