PH 5080 STATISTICAL PHYSICS 2014

Course Outline
Learning objectives: To develop a sound understanding of the concepts and
an awareness of the recent developments in the field.
The course will begin on 12 January 2014 and will end with the final examination on 5 May. There are 42 lecture hours in total. There will be a
mid-semester exam on Wednesday, 11 March.
Evaluation scheme:
20 (Class Tests)+ 30 (mid-semester exam)+50 (end-sem exam)=100
Class Tests: These will take place in the classroom itself, and will be of 20
min duration each. They will be based on the problem sets for each module
(which will be distributed at the start of each module, and breifly discussed
alongside the lectures) Every test, except one, is worth 3 marks (the odd one
has 2 marks). There will be 7 tests in total, and will usually be conducted
every alternate Wednesday. The test dates are
21 Jan, 4 Feb, 18 Feb, 4 March, 25 March, 8 April, 22 April
The course is divided into 7 modules for ease of organization.
1. Thermodynamic concepts
The science of thermodynamics, intensive and extensive variables, the
central concept of entropy (axiomatic definition), Laws of thermodynamics, fundamental relations and equations of state, thermodynamic
equilibrium, thermodynamic potentials, conditions of stability
2. Probability concepts
Basic notions of probability, random variables and distributions, many
random variables, central limit theorem, the random walk, Gaussian
distribution of many variables, fluctuations and correlations.
3. Foundations of Statistical Mechanics
Micrsoscopic reversibility and macroscopic irreversibility, Liouvilles
theorem, Ergodic theorem, Boltzmanns H-theorem, microcanonical
and canonical ensembles, Boltzmanns formula for entropy.
4. The Gibbs distribution
The canonical Gibbs distribution, partition function, entropy and free
energy, grand-canonical Gibbs distribution, fluctuations in energy and
number of particles, Basic concepts of quantum SM, Density matrix,
expectation values, simple examples.
5. Statistical Physics of particles
Collection of non-interacting particles, bosons and fermions- symmetric and antisymmetric wave functions, exchange interaction, grandcanonical partition functions, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distribu-

tions, Free electron gas in metals, Blackbody radiation, BE condensation, Specific heat in solids- Einstein and Debye theories.
6. Theories of phase transitions
The classical ideal gas, equipartition theorem, equation of state, interacting particles, cluster expansion, van der Waals fluid, liquid-gas
phase transition in van der Waals picture, Ornstein-Zernike theory,
Heisenberg and Ising models for magnets, Mean-field theory of Ising
model, Landau theory of phase transitions
7. Selection of advanced topics and recent developments
Exact solution of one dimensional Ising model, Percolation as a phase
transition, Concepts of renormalization group, Stochastic dynamicsBrownian motion and Langevin equations, Jarzynski equality and fluctuation theorems
COURSE TEXTBOOKS:
1. Herbert Callen, Themodynamics and an introduction to Thermostatistics (Wiley)
2. F. Schwabl, Statistical Mechanics (Springer)
3. L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, Statistical Physics (Elsevier)
4. M. Kardar, Statistical Physics of Particles (Cambridge UP)
5. M. Plischke and B. Bergerson, Eqilibrium Statistical Physics, 2nd ed.,
(World Scientific)
OTHER RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS AND ADDITIONAL
REFERENCES
1. R. K. Pathria, Statistical Mechanics (Elsevier)
2. M. Kardar,Statistical Physics of Fields (Cambridge UP)
3. J. P. Sethna, Entropy, Order Parameters and Complexity (Oxford UP)
4. F. Mandl, Statistical Physics (Wiley)
5. T. L. Hill,Statistical Thermodynamics (Dover)
6. F. Reif, Statistical Physics (Berkeley Physics Course, Vol.5)