| Week |
Monday |
Wednesday |
| Aug 27 |
Methods of Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics. Definitions of thermodynamics.
Temperature. Equation of state. |
Thermodynamic coefficients. Work. Internal energy. First law of thermodynamics. Heat. Heat
capacity. Mayer's equation. |
| Sep 3 |
Labor Day - Work at home |
The adiabatic equation. Heat machines. Carnot cycle. |
| Sep 10 |
Second law of thermodynamics. Carnot's theorem. Entropy as a
state function. Entropy increase in irreversible processes. |
Thermodynamic relations. Entropy of the ideal gas. |
| Sep 17 |
--- no classes --- |
Third law of thermodynamics.
Thermodynamic potentials. |
| Sep 24 |
Systems with variable mass, chemical potential. Thermodynamic
stability. |
--- no classes --- |
| Oct 1 |
Molecular theory of the ideal gas. Basic assumptions. Characteristic lengths.
Velocity and speed distribution function. |
Molecular flux. Pressure due to molecular impact. |
| Oct 8 |
Relation between temperature and average kinetic energy. Heat
capacity of the ideal gas. Degrees of freedom |
Maxwell-Boltzmann disctribution. Characteristic speeds of
molecules. |
| Oct 15 |
Solving problems |
Midterm test 1 |
| Oct 22 |
Statistical physics. Classical vs. quantum approaches. Quantum
states and equidistribution assumption. Combinatorics and thermodynamic
probability. Coin tossing experiment. Stirling formula |
Combinatorics of multistate particles. Degeneracy.
Thermodynamic probability and entropy. Quantization. |
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Formalism of quantum mechanics. Eigenvalue problems for
matrices and differential operators. Stationary Schrödinger equation. Particle
in a rigid box. Degeneracy. Density of states. |
......................... no lecture ................... |
| Oct 29 |
Boltzmann statistics. Relation between statistical parameters
and thermodynamic quantities. |
Statistical thermodynamics of the ideal gas |
| Nov 5 |
Statistical mechanics of harmonic oscillators |
Average quantum number of the harmonic oscillator as a
particular case of the Bose-Einstein distribution. Statistical mechanics of
rotators |
| Nov 12 |
Solving problems |
Solid as a collection of harmonic oscillators. Sound waves in a
box. Phonons. Density of states. |
| Nov 19 |
Heat capacity of solids. Einstein and Debye theories. |
Spins in magnetic field. Energy levels and partition function. |
| Nov 26 |
Spins in magnetic field. Brillouin function, heat capacity, and
magnetic susceptibility. |
Systems of indistinguishable particles. Spin and statistics.
Bosons and fermions. Bose condensation. |
| Dec 3 |
Energy, heat capacity, and pressure of the Bose gas. Fermi gas
at zero temperature. |
Degenerate Fermi gas at nonzero temperatures. Heat capacity of
the degenerate Fermi gas |