PC 2352: THERMAL AND STATISTICAL PHYSICS

Lecturer:

Dr J McGovern

Credit rating:

10

Prerequisites:

PC 1352, PC 2101

Follow-up units:

Many third year units, especially PC315

Classes:

24 lectures in S4; Tuesdays at 12pm and Wednesdays at 10am in the Rutherford Theatre

Assessment:

1 hour 30 minutes examination in May/June

Recommended texts:

Mandl, F. Statistical Physics 2nd edition (Wiley)
Bowley, R. and Sanchez, M. Introductory Statistical Mechanics (Oxford)

For the thermal section of the course, there is also
Adkins, C. J. Equilibrium Thermodynamics 2nd edition (McGraw Hill)
Zemansky, M. W. and Dittman, R. H. Heat and Thermodynamics 7th edition (McGraw Hill)

and for the statistical sections,
Kittel, C. and Kroemer, H. Thermal Physics 2nd Edition (Freeman)

Aims:

To develop the ideas of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.

Objectives:

1. To understand the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and associated concepts.

2. To know how to be able to use the formalism of thermodynamics, including the thermodynamic potentials and Maxwell's relations.

3. To understand the statistical origin of the second law of thermodynamics.

4. To know how to construct a partition function and how to use it to obtain thermodynamic quantities of interest.

Syllabus:

1. Classical thermodynamics
   The first and second law for fluid, magnetic and other systems
   Thermodynamic potentials
   Maxwell's relations and applications
   Open systems and the chemical potential

2. Statistical theory of thermodynamics
   Microstates and macrostates
   The spin ½ paramagnet
   Statistical interpretation of entropy and temperature
   Fluctuations

3. The Boltzmann distribution
   Derivation of the Boltzmann distribution The partition function and the connection with thermodynamics
   Evaluation of the partition function for simple systems
   The perfect classical gas and the density of states

4. The Gibbs distribution
   Derivation of the Gibbs distribution
   The grand partition functions and the connection with thermodynamics
   Applications and comparison with earlier approaches