Statistical Physics

PHY475: Statistical Physics, Spring 2007

Instructor: Miron Kaufman

OFFICE: SI-116, Email:

m.kaufman@csuohio.edu

Class meets on: M and W 4:00-5:50PM in SI-147.

Prerequisites: PHY330 and PHY474.

Textbook: Callen: Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics; Kaufman Statistical Physics Computational Projects

Recomended Books: Schroeder An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Espinola Introduction to Thermophysics, Zemansky and Dittman Heat and Thermodynamics; Morse Thermal Physics; Reif Statistical and Thermal Physics, Huang Statistical Mechanics

Tentative Schedule

Week#1,2 Review of Thermodynamics Ch.12
Week#3,4 Microcanonical Ensemble; Application: Einstein Crystal; Paramagnet (Two States) Model, Polymer Model Ch.15
Week#5,6,7,8 Canonical Ensemble; Applications: Ideal Gas; Classical,Einstein and Debye Crystals; Paramagnet (Two States) Model; Blackbody Radiation Ch.16
Week#9 Grand-Canonical Ensemble; Application: Ideal Gas Ch.17
Week#10,11 Quantum Statistics: Fermi-Dirac statistics Application: free electron model of metals.
Week#12,13 Quantum Statistics:Bose-Einstein Distribution Ch.18
Week#14 Phase Transitions: Bose Condensation.
Week#15 Phase Transitions:Ising Model of Ferromagnetism Ch.20

Important Dates

No class: M January 15, M February 19, M March 12, W March 14.
Last day to drop the course: F, March 30.

Exams Schedule

Exam #1 M, March 19
Exam #2 M, May 7

The final grade is a weighted average of:

Exam #1 30%
Exam #2 40%
Homework, Quizzes 10%
Computer Project 20%

Part of the course is a project in the computer lab of the Physics Department SI-117A. We will work nontrivial problems in Statistical Physics by using MathCAD on the following dates:

W, January 24:
Computer lab #1: Tutorial, Gamma Function, and the Stirling Approximation
W, February 7:
Computer lab #2b: Two-State Model, Negative Temperatures, and the Schottky Hump
Computer lab #2a: Magnetic Cooling
W, March 7:
Computer lab #3: Einstein and Debye Solids
W, March 28:
Computer lab #4: Blackbody Radiation
W, April 11:
Computer lab #5: Electron Gas
W, April 25:
Computer lab #6: Bose-Einstein Gas
Computer lab #7: Ising Model

HOMEWORK

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