The solutions for the final exam have been re-posted. There were two minor errors in problems 1 and 3 in the old solutions. Get the solutions on the Homework page.

I will be returning your final exam to you in your mailbox outside the department main office. Final grades have been submitted.

Have a good summer!

Friday, May 7, 2004

Solutions to the Final Exam are now posted on the Homework page.

Exams have NOT yet been graded - hopefully they will be by Monday.

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Solutions to Problem Sets 5 and 6 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes for all lectures, including the last lecture 28, are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

The Final Exam will be on Thursday, May 6, from 4 -- 7pm in BL 405. You may bring a cheat sheet as described on the Course Information page. There will be three problems: two dealing with quantum ensembles, and one dealing with anything from the course. I am in general around between now and the exam, so feel free to stop by if you have questions. Good luck!

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Problem Set 6, due Tuesday April 27 in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 26 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Solutions to Problem Set 5 will hopefully get posted tomorrow.

Tomorrow (Thursday) in lecture, I will pass out course evaluation forms, so please come and give me your feedback on the course.

Friday, April 9, 2004

Problem Set 5, due Tuesday, April 20, in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 21 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Tuesday lecture next week is canceled. There will be a makeup lecture on Friday next week.

Midterm exams will be returned to you in lecture next Thursday.

Saturday, April 3, 2004

Lecture next Tuesday, April 6, and the following Tuesday, April 13, are canceled.

Make-up lectures will be given on Friday of the same weeks, April 9 and 16, 9:45-11:00am in BL 372.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Solutions to Problem Set 4 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes for lecture 19 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Notes through lecture 18 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Lecture this Thursday, March 25, is canceled. Next lecture is Tuesday, March 30.

Midterm Exam is Friday, April 2, 9:30am in BL 208. The exam will cover only material up to, but not including, our discussion of quantum ensembles - that is, lectures 1 to middle of 13. Read the section of the Course Information page for instructions about "cheat sheet", etc.

Monday, March 15, 2004

Problem Set 4, due Tuesday, March 23, in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page. This is a relatively short problem set.

Please note that there is a makeup lecture scheduled for Friday this week at 9:45 am in BL 372.

Tomorrow in lecture, Tuesday March 16, I will pass out TA evaluation forms.

Monday, March 8, 2004

Notes for lecture 15 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Revised solutions to Problem Set 1 have been posted on the Homework page. There is a correction to the calculation of the Gibbs free energy, G(T, p, N), in problem 1.

Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Solutions to Problem Set 3 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes for lecture 14 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Saturday, February 28, 2004

Notes for lectures 12 and 13 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Lecture dates for the remainder of the semester, including Friday lectures, are now posted on the calendar.

You may turn in Problem Set 3 by 5pm on Tuesday March 2. Put it in my mailbox outside the Department main office.

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Solutions to Problem Set 2 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes for lecture 11 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Problem Set 3, due Tuesday March 2 in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page.

We will have a make up lecture this Friday, February 27, 9:45 - 11:00 am. The lecture will be in BL 372. Note that this is a different room than we used for the last Friday lecture.

Friday, February 13, 2004

The Midterm Exam has been fixed for Friday, April 2, 9:30 -- 11:30 am, in BL 208.

Solutions to Problem Set 1 are posted on the Homework page.

Notes for lectures 9 and 10 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

I have also posted an Appendix to lecture 9. There is lots of good stuff in it including a derivation of Stirling's approximation for n! using the saddle point approximation, a careful comparison of the entropy of the ideal gas in the canonical vs. the microcanonical ensemble, and a discussion of the difference between the average energy and the most probably energy in the canonical ensemble.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Problem Set 2, due Tuesday February 24 in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 8 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page. The notes for lectures 7 and 8 are somewhat different from what they were two years ago, so if you have been using the old website to read ahead, you might wish to download the newer notes.

Solutions to Problem Set 1, and notes for lecture 9 should get posted tomorrow.

Note that I will be out of town next week, February 15 -- 22, and so lectures for that week have been canceled. We will have an extra make up lecture Friday the following week, February 27 9:45am in BL 208.

Monday, February 2, 2004

Problem Set 1, due Tuesday February 10 in lecture, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes for lectures 1 to 5 have been posted on the Lecture Notes page.

This Friday, February 6, we wil have an additional lecture at 9:45 in BL 208.

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Welcome to Physics 418, Statistical Mechanics I.

Look on this page for general announcements to the class. If its posted here, you are responsible for knowing it!

The links to the left will take you to other information pages for the course.