| Week |
Monday |
Wednesday |
| Jan 23 |
No classes |
Methods of Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics. Definitions of
thermodynamics. Temperature. Equation of state. |
| Jan 30 |
Thermodynamic coefficients. Work. Internal energy. First law of
thermodynamics. Heat. Heat capacity. Mayer's equation. |
The adiabatic equation. Heat machines. Carnot cycle. |
| Feb 6 |
Entropy at equilibrium. Thermodynamic potentials. Thermodynamic
relations. Entropy of the ideal gas. Adiabatic thermodynamic coefficients. |
Third law of thermodynamics. Systems with variable mass,
chemical potential. Problem solving |
| Feb 13 |
Lincoln birthday, no classes |
Second law of thermodynamics. Carnot's theorem. Entropy
increase in irreversible processes. |
| Feb 20 |
Presidents Day, no classes |
Molecular theory of the ideal gas. Basic assumptions. Characteristic lengths.
Velocity and speed distribution function. Molecular flux. Pressure due to
molecular impact. |
| Feb 27 |
Relation between temperature and average kinetic energy. Heat
capacity of the ideal gas. Degrees of freedom. Maxwell-Boltzmann disctribution.
Characteristic speeds of molecules. |
Problem solving |
| Mar 6 |
Midterm test 1 |
Statistical physics. Classical vs. quantum approaches. Quantum states and
equidistribution assumption. Combinatorics and thermodynamic probability. Coin
tossing experiment. Stirling formula. Combinatorics of multistate particles. |
| Mar 13 |
Thermodynamic probability and entropy. Boltzmann statistics. Relation between statistical parameters
and thermodynamic quantities. |
Formalism of quantum mechanics. Eigenvalue problems for
matrices and differential operators. Stationary Schrödinger equation. Particle
in a rigid box. Degeneracy. Density of states. |
| Mar 20 |
Statistical thermodynamics of the ideal gas |
Statistical mechanics of harmonic oscillators |
| Mar 27 |
Average quantum number of the harmonic oscillator as a
particular case of the Bose-Einstein distribution. Statistical mechanics of
rotators. |
Solid as a collection of harmonic oscillators. Sound waves in a
box. Phonons. Density of states. Heat capacity of solids. Debye theory. |
| Apr 3 |
Spins in magnetic field. Energy levels and partition function. Brillouin function, heat capacity, and
magnetic susceptibility. |
Spring Recess |
| Apr 10 |
Spring Recess |
Spring Recess |
| Apr 17 |
Spins in magnetic field. Phase transitions and mean-field
approximation. |
One-dimensional Ising model |
| Apr 24 |
Grand canonical ensemble for systems of indistinguishable
particles and systems with interaction. |
Spin and statistics. Bosons and fermions. Statistics of
noninteracting indistinguishable particles. |
| May 1 |
Bose condensation. Energy, heat capacity, and pressure of the
Bose gas. |
Fermi gas at zero temperature. Degenerate Fermi gas at nonzero temperatures. Heat capacity of
the degenerate Fermi gas |
| May 8 |
Electromagnetic radiation (photon gas) |
Problem solving |
| May 15 |
Midterm test 2 |
No classes |