Instructor: Josh Deutsch 219 ISB

Office Hours: Wednesday 1-2PM and 4-5PM

Textbooks:

``Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics'' F. Reif (Required).

Textbooks on the web:

``Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity'' J. Sethna

Evaluations

Student evaluations will be based on their performance on a weekly quiz, and a final exam. The weekly quizzes will be be closely related to the assigned homework. Solutions to the homework problems will be given after the relevant quiz has been taken. The weights for the exams are as follows:

8 Quizzes:

In class closed book quizzes every Friday, starting April 13. Weight: 9% per quiz.
An overall score of 70% must be attained to pass the class.

Final:

In class closed book final exam on Tuesday, June 12 Noon-3:00PM. Weight: 28%

For the final exam students will be allowed to bring an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper containing any information they please.

Course Description

The basic basic laws of thermodynamics, entropy, thermodynamic potentials, connection between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, the partition function, different ensembles, quantum and classical statistical mechanics, correlation functions, linear response theory, and mean field theory.

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