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PHY 418: Statistical Mechanics I
Prof. S. Teitel stte@pas.rochester.edu ---- Spring 2018
February
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
lecture 6
Curvature of free energies and stability requirements for response functions, heat engines, thermodynamic efficiency, Carnot cycle
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6
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7
lecture 7
Kinetic theory of ideal gas, Maxwell velocity distribution, Ergodic hypothesis, statisitcal ensembles, density matrix
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8
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9
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10
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11
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12
lecture 8
Liouville's theorem, microcanonical ensemble, density of states and connection to entropy
HW#1 due
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13
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14
lecture 9
Entropy of the ideal gas and problem of extensivity, entropy of mixing and Gibbs paradox, indistinguishable particles
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15
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16
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17
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18
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19
lecture 10
The canonical ensemble and the canonical partition function, Helholtz free energy and the canonical partition function, energy fluctuations, equivalence of canonical and microcanonical ensembles in the thermodynamic limit
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20
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21
lecture 11
Average energy vs most probably energy, Stirling's formula, factoring the canonical partition function for non-interacting objects, the ideal gas in the canonical ensemble
HW#2 due
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22
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23
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24
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25
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26
lecture 12
Maxwell velocity distribution revisited, the virial theorm, the equipartition theorem, elastic vibrations of a solid and the law of Dulong and Petit, paramagnetism of classical spins
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27
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28
lecture 13
The Curie law of paramagnetic susceptibility, a note about the proper choice of coordinates, entropy and information
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