Course Description
The foundation and development of statistical mechanics in classical and quantum physics and its relationship to thermodynamics.
Athena Title
Statistical Mechanics I
Prerequisite
PHYS 8011 and PHYS 8102
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
To teach the foundation of statistical mechanics developed by Boltzmann, Gibbs and others, presented from a modern perspective, using quantum mechanics. In the initial phase the canonical ensemble theory is developed to treat many-body models with a fixed number of particles. A quantum prescription is given using the second law of thermodynamics. The canonical ensembles are applied to physical problems such as solids of Einstein and Debye, photon gas of Planck, magnetic models. These studies are intended to illustrate the workings of modern statistical mechanics.
Topical Outline
1. Gibbs entropy and microcanonical ensembles 2. Lagrange's method of multipliers, temperature and chemical potential 3. Classical ideal gas and Carnot cycle 4. Two level systems and negative temperature 5. Quantum partition function and Helmholtz free energy 6. Energy fluctuations and the specific heat 7. Einstein and Debye models of solids 8. Planck's radiation law, the sun's spectra, cosmological background 9. Phase transitions in fluid and magnets
Syllabus
Public CV