Latest update: December 7, 2001
http://fy.chalmers.se/~kinaret/smap.html

Statistical Physics

Statistical Physics: 5.0p, lp I and lp II
Examinator: Dr Jari Kinaret Department of Applied Physics

Latest information:



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Data for home problem no. 39 is here

General information regarding the course

The course consists of two largely independent parts: non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and equilibrium critical phenomena. In the first part we will study for instance what determines the direction of time in statistical physics and how a thermodynamic system relaxes towards equilibrium. We will discuss a few dynamic equations that describe the relaxation process and see how they lead to well-known results like Ohm's law and heat diffusion. Furthermore, we will consider more generally a system's response to external stimuli and derive a connection between the response functions and equilibrium correlation functions (fluctuation-dissipation theorem). In the second part we will concentrate on systems that undergo a phase transition when the temperature passes through a particular value. We will introduce the basic concepts that are used to describe phase transitions, and learn how to describe a phase transition in terms of critical exponents and order parameters. We will learn how to determine the large scale behavior of a system starting from short-range interactions between nearby degrees of freedom, and in the process derive both the mean field method and the renormalization group technique.

The grade is based on weekly home problems (30%), a written midterm exam (30%), a final oral exam (30%), and a voluntary project (10%). A passing grade requires satisfactory performance in both parts of the course.
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Schedule

Lectures:
Recitations:
First lecture: Wednesday, September 5, at 13.15 in FB.
Last lecture: Wednesday, December 12, at 10.00 in SB.
Midterm exam: Saturday, October 13 at 10.15-13.15 in ?
Oral exams: December 13-20
Project: Deadline December 20
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Contact information

Lecturer:
Tutors: Back to the top

Material

Lecture notes SEK 80, available from room F4124.

Other supporting material:
1. P. M. Chaikin and T. C. Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995)
2. M. Plischke and B. Bergersen, Equilibrium Statistical Physics (World Scientific, Singapore, 1994)
3. A. Sjölander, Graduate Course in Irreversible Statistical Physics (Chalmers, Göteborg, 1990)
4. Leo P. Kadanoff, Statistical Physics: Statics, Dynamics and Renormalization (World Scientific, Singapore, 2000)
5. L. E. Reichl, A Modern Course in Statistical Physics (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1980)
6. F. Reif, Statistical and Thermal Physics (McGraw-Hill, Singapore, 1985)
7. N. Goldenfeld, Lectures on Phase Transitions and the Renormalization Group (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1992)
8. C. Itzykson and J.-M. Drouffe, Statistical Field Theory (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989)
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