Module MA3444: Statistical Physics II

Credit weighting (ECTS)

5 credits

Semester/term taught

Hilary term 2015-16

Contact Hours

11 weeks, 3 lectures including tutorials per week

Lecturer

Prof Dmytro Volin

 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• Explain the difference between fermions and bosons and work out the consequences for N-particle systems at low temperatures;
• Make content with the classical regime at high temperatures and or low particle densities;
• Apply the formalism of statistical physics to systems without particle number conservation (e.g. photons, phonons);
• Apply the formalism of quantum statistical physics to simple model systems;
• Apply the formalism of thermodynamics to magnetic/spin systems;
• Do a mean field analysis of spin systems;
• Solve the 1-dimensional Ising model, and show familiarity with Peierl's argument in 2 dimensions

 

Module Content

Suggested Literature

1. Kerson Huang, 'Introduction to Statistical Physics'

2. L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz, 'Statistical Physics'

3. James P. Sethna, 'Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters and Complexity'

4. Lectures of Leonard Susskind on YouTube

5. Wikipedia 

Module Prerequisite

MA3443 - Statistical Physics I

Assessment Detail

This module will be examined in a 2-hour examination in Trinity term. The continuous assessment percentage contribution to the annual results is 20%. Supplemental exam if required will consist of 100% exam.