FYS-1376 Statistical Physics, 3 cr
Person responsible
Jouko Nieminen
Lessons
Implementation 1: FYS-1376 2015-01
| Study type | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | Summer |
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Requirements
Accepted exam on the contents of the course.
Learning Outcomes
After completing the course, the student is able to construct the connection between fundamental laws of physics governing the microstate of a system and the thermodynamical quantities and laws describing the macroscopic world and practically infinite systems. In addition to conceptual understanding, the student can mathematically deal with classical and quantum mechanical problems at the macroscopic limit. Furthermore she/he can solve simple problems in statistical physics and interpret the results.
Content
| Content | Core content | Complementary knowledge | Specialist knowledge |
| 1. | Entropy and statistical weight of macrostates. | Derivation of Boltzmann and Gibbs statistics. | |
| 2. | Partition funktion, expectation values and thermodynamical potentials | Calculation of macroscopic average values for exemplar systems, such as rotating molecules or ideal gas. | |
| 3. | Boltzmann distribution, Gibbs distribution, Fermi-Dirac distribution and Bose-Einstein distribution. | Application of distribution functions to fermi gas, black body radiation and Bose condensate. | |
| 4. | Interacting systems of phase transitions. | Ising model, mean field theory and Monte Carlo method. |
Instructions for students on how to achieve the learning outcomes
The mark is determined from a final exam and solved weekly exercises.
Assessment scale:
Numerical evaluation scale (1-5) will be used on the course
Study material
| Type | Name | Author | ISBN | URL | Additional information | Examination material |
| Book | An introduction to thermal physics | D.V. Schroeder | Yes |
Prerequisites
| Course | Mandatory/Advisable | Description |
| FYS-1340 Termofysiikka | Advisable | 1 |
1 . Otherwise obtained background on thermodynamics.
Correspondence of content
| Course | Corresponds course | Description |
| FYS-1376 Statistical Physics, 3 cr | FYS-1370 Statistical Physics, 3 cr |