Syllabus

With the basic principles of thermodynamics introduced in part I, we now move on to the more statistical side of things. For many systems we can describe interesting properties using a statistical/probabilistic approach, intuitively linked to entropy and the occupation of states, such as certain energy states. Much of our time will be spent deriving distribution functions that underpin the relation between micro and macroscopic properties of systems, following in the steps of the greats like Einstein and Fermi. Using these tools we embark on attacking a wide variety of problems, from describing classical and quantum gases to exotic phenomena such as super-fluids and white dwarf stars.

Details

This class would to take place once a week over full a semester. We followed the textbook An Introduction to Thermal Physics Series by Schroeder. The material was the subject of seminars held immediately after each lecture.

Class slides

PDFs of lecture slides can be found in the TSM2 folder at this url. Note these slides were used in classes I taught 2021 and have not been updated since.

Part 1 [2 sessions]: Introduction and statistics

Part 2 [2 sessions]: Boltzmann statistics, equipartition theorem

Part 3 [2 sessions]: Canonical ensemble, partition functions and velocity distributions

Part 4 [1 session]: The grand canonical ensemble

Part 5 [3 sessions]: Quantum statistical distributions

Part 6 [3 sessions]: Photons and phonons

Part 7 [2 sessions]: Interactions