P332: STATISTICAL AND THERMAL PHYSICS

Rationale The basic laws governing dynamics are Newtons second law in classical mechanics and the Schr odinger wave equation in quantum mechanics. Their application is however restricted to only the simplest physical systems because of mathematical complications which arise primarily from the many-body nature of most practical systems. Statistical mechanics is the study of systems comprising many particles by means of the laws of statistics and probability. In P332, the fundamental principles of equilibrium statistical mechanics are studied and are illustrated by means of simple examples. Many important concepts are developed for the rst time and some old ones rigorously justied or derived. This lays the groundwork for the study of more complex systems which cannot be treated in this course, and it leads to the study of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics at postgraduate level. Objectives At the end of this course, you should have learned: 1. The connection between the laws of thermodynamics and the microscopic structure of matter. 2. How to use statistical mechanics to calculate the properties of simple systems. 3. How to derive many of the results of kinetic theory and thermodynamics by means of the standard tools of statistical mechanics such as the partition function. 4. The student should be ready to move on to the study of more advanced concepts and more complex physical systems in subsequent courses. Course Content Probability and Statistics: The random walk problem, the binomial distribution, the Gaussian distribution, the Poisson distribution Statistical Description of Systems of Particles: Statistical formulation of the mechanical problem Statistical Thermodynamics: Irreversibility at the attainment of equilibrium, thermal interaction between macroscopic systems, general interaction between macroscopic systems, general interaction between macroscopic systems Macroscopic Parameters and Their Measurement Simple Applications of Macroscopic Thermodynamics: Properties of ideal gases, general relations for a homogeneous substance, free expansion and throttling processes, heat engines and refrigerators Basic Methods of Statistical Mechanics: Ensembles representative of situations of physical interest, approximation methods Simple Applications of Statistical Mechanics: Ideal monatomic gas, the equipartition theorem, paramagnetism 1

Equilibrium Between Phases or Chemical Species: General equilibrium conditions, equilibrium between phases, chemical equilibrium of systems with several components Quantum Statistics of Ideal Gases: statistics, black-body radiation. Maxwell-Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein, Fermi-Dirac

Time Allocation: Lectures: 3 hrs/week Tutorial: 1 hr/week Lab: Associated laboratory of 3 hrs/week. Assessment: Continuous assessment: 40%, Final Examination: 60% Pre-requisites: P231, P272, M211, M212 Prescribed Texts 1. F. Reif, Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics, McGraw-Hill, 1981. ISBN: 0-07-085615-X 2. B. N. Roy, Fundamentals of Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics, Wiley, 2002. ISBN: 13:978-0470843161 Recommended Texts 1. M. W. Zemansky, Heat and Thermodynamics, McGraw-Hill, 1957. 978-0070170599 2. F. W. Sears, Thermodynamics, McGraw-Hill, 1963. ISBN: 13:020106894 ISBN: