PHYS 41024

>< Type/ Status : Compulsory
>< Title : Statistical Physics
>< Pre-requisites : All PHYS Core Course units
>< Objectives : By the end of course unit, students will gain the basic understanding of the physical concepts and methods appropriate to describe the systems of many particles, within the context of statistical mechanics and kinetic theory, from a unified and modern point of view.
>< Course Content :

Introduction; Basic probability concepts; Binomial, Gaussian and Poisson distributions; Statistical description of systems of particles; Interaction between macroscopic systems; Statistical thermodynamics; Macroscopic parameters and their measurements; Degeneracy function; Simple applications of macroscopic thermodynamics; Basic methods and results of statistical mechanics; Simple applications of statistical mechanics; Partition function and their properties; Ideal monatomic gas; The equipartition theorem; Paramagnetism; Kinetic theory of dilute gases in equilibrium; Equilibrium between phases or chemical species; Quantum statistics of ideal gases; Maxwell-Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics; Ideal gas in the classical limit; Black body radiation; Conduction electrons in metals; Systems of interacting particles; Magnetism and low temperature.

>< Methodology : A combination of lectures, seminars, and tutorial discussions.
>< Scheme of Evaluation : End of course unit written examination.
>< Recommended Reading :
1.Reif, F., Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics. McGraw-Hill

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