Physics 606 Syllabus
Spring 2007
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INSTRUCTOR: |
Arlette Baljon, phone: 4-2051, office: P_134 |
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TEXT: |
"Statistical Mechanics", R.K. Pathria, second edition (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1972). |
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OTHER TEXTS: |
“Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics”, A. H. Carter (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River 2001) “An Introduction to Thermal Physics”, D. V. Schroeder (Addison Wesley, Boston 2000) “Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics”, F. Reif (McGraw-Hill, New York 1965) “States of Matter”, D.L. Goodstein (Dover, New York 1985) “Introduction to Modern Statistical Physics”, D. Wu and D. “A Modern Course in Statistical Physics”, L.E. Reichl (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1998) “Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics”, G. F. Mazenko (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 2000) |
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OUTLINE: |
Thermodynamics (summary). Thermodynamic potentials. Contact between thermodynamics and statistics. Phase space of classical and quantum systems. Microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensemble. Density and energy fluctuations: correspondence between ensembles. The ideal gas in quantum-mechanical ensembles. Photons and black-body radiation. Phonons and the field of sound waves. Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluids. The ideal fermi gas and magnetism. Electron gas in metals. White dwarf stars. Interacting systems and the virial expansion. Cluster integrals. V. d. Waals equation of state. Phase transitions. Criticality, universality, and scaling. Ising model and lattice gas. Fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Renormalization. |
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PREREQUISITES: |
Physics 360 and 410. Students must satisfy course prerequisites (or their equivalents) prior to beginning this course. Recommended: Physics 608 |
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OFFICE HOURS: |
Tuesday 16.30-17.30 and Thursday 11.00-12.00. May 14: 1-4 |
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HOMEWORK: |
Weekly reading assignments. A short quiz will be given in class. |
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PROBLEM SETS: |
Class time will be used for problem sessions on Jan 23, 30; Feb 6, 13, 20, 27; March 15, 22; April 5, 12, 19, 26; May 3. Credit will be earned by participating in these sessions. |
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EXAMS: |
A midterm and a final exam. (both open book) |
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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: |
After taking this class you will have the problem solving skills and knowledge of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics required for a productive career as a professional physicist. |
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GRADES: |
Students can earn a total of 100 points. 20 points can be earned by participating in the problem sessions (1 point each) and by performing well in reading quizzes (1 point each if more than 50% of answers is right). 30 points can be earned in the midterm and 50 in the final. Computational problems will be handed out around Spring break. Students can earn credit towards the final (max. 20 points) while working on them. A 90 points; A- 86 points; B+ 79 points; B 75 points; B- 71 points; C+ 64 points; C 60 points; C- 56 points. |
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Reading Assignments: |
Pathria |
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UG text (similar) |
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January 30 |
Chap 1 |
All |
Chapters 8 and 12 Carter |
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February 6 |
Chap 2 |
All |
Chapter 12 Carter |
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February 13 |
Chap 3 |
Sections 1,2 (till ii on page 47) 3,4,5 |
Chapters 12 and 13 Carter |
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February 20 |
Chap 3 |
Sections 6,7 (till page 65),8,9 |
Chapter 14 Carter |
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February 27 |
Chap 3/4 |
Chap 3, Section 10 (till page 81) and Chap 4 all |
Chapter 17 Carter |
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March 15 |
Chap 6 |
Sections 1,2,3 |
Chapters 11, 13, and 14 Carter |
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March 22 |
Chap 6 |
Sections 4,5 (till page 150) |
Chapters 11, 13, and 14 Carter |
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April 5 |
Chap 7 |
Section 1 |
Chapters 15, 16, and 18 Carter |
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April 12 |
Chap 7 |
Sections 2,3 |
Chapters 15, 16, and 18 Carter |
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April 19 |
Chap 8 |
Sections 1,3 (till page 212), 4 |
Chapter 19 Carter |
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April 26 |
Chap 9 |
Sections 1,2,3 |
Chapter 8 Schroeder |
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May 3 |
Chap 11 |
Sections 1,2,3,4,5,7 (till page 336) |
Chapter 8 Schroeder |
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There will be no class on March 6 and May 8. Class time can be used to work on computational problems.
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Exams: |
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March 8 |
Midterm |
Chapters 1-3 (see reading assignments for covered material) |
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May 15 |
Final (19.00-21.00) |
Chapters 4-11 (see reading assignments for covered material) |