PH5310 Statistical Mechanics ... (3-0-0) spring (alternate years) ... 3 Cr

Next offering: Spring 2008


Course Description:
Ensembles, partition functions and distributions, thermodynamic potentials, quantum statistics, ideal and nonideal gases, interacting systems. Applications may include classical and quantum liquids, phase transitions and critical phenomena, correlation functions, linear response and transport theory, or other topics.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.

This course is an alternate prerequisite for PH4395.

Text (Spring, 2006):

Previous Text:

Typical Syllabus
Week 1.Review of Thermodynamics
Week 2.The Statistical Basis of Thermodynamics
Week 3.Elements of Ensemble Theory
The Microcanonical Ensemble
The Canonical Ensemble
Week 4.Equipartition and the Virial
Variational Derivation of the Canonical Ensemble
Week 5.Eqivalence Between Ensembles; Energy Fluctuations
Two-state system; Paramagnetism
Week 6.The Grand Canonical Ensemble
Week 7.Density Fluctuations
Formulation of Quantum Statistics
Week 8.Indistinguishable Particles
Theory of Simple Gases
Week 9.Ideal Bose Systems
Week 10 .Ideal Fermi Systems
Week 11.Simple Models of Interacting Systems
Ising Model
Week 12. Mean Field Theory; Landau Theory
Week 13.Phase Transitions
Week 14.Renormalization Group
Week 15.Monte Carlo Simulation

Course Rationale:
A core subject in Physics with application to all of its subfields. Fundamental principles are taught in depth, and advanced mathematical tools are presented to equip students for other applications. One of the core required courses for graduate degrees in Physics.

Last Modified: Thursday, 22-Dec-2005 13:59:49 EST