PHYS2140
Statistical Mechanics [ Course Website ]
Examinations: One at midterm, one at end of semester.
Course Outline:
- Thermodynamics: Statistical mechanics, derivation of laws of thermodynamics from statistical mechanics, entropy and the second law. Maxwell relations, Carnot cycle, thermodynamics potentials, and applications. Van der Waals equation. Thermodynamics of surfaces.
- Statistical Mechanics: Canonical ensemble, application to a classical ideal gas, Gibbs’ paradox. Rotating systems. Non-ideal gases, law of corresponding states. Grand canonical ensemble, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics, photon gas, phonons. Applications to magnetism.
- Transport Theory and Fluctuations: Diffusion, viscosity, electrical and thermal conductivity. Boltzmann equation. Fluctuations. Fluctuations in time and correlation functions, Langevin equation, Brownian motion. Nyquist’s theorem and Onsager relations.
A core course, required for the Ph.D. and offered every year. Prerequisite is Physics 2050 or permission of the instructor.
