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Advanced Statistical Physics: Course Contents (PHY-6004)

Statistical physics is a branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems

Course Contents

Introduction, Review of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, Empirical equations of state, Ideal gas laws, Van der Wall’s equation, Critical phenomena, Hugoniot equation, Mie-Gruneisen equation, Canonical and grand canonical ensembles, partition function, connection with thermodynamics, fluctuations. minimization of free energy, non-interacting,

Quantum statistics: thermal wavelength, identical particles, Fermi and Bose statistics, pressure, entropy, free energy, equation of state,

Fermi gas;  non-interacting Bose gas, Paramagnets, Ising model, Approximate methods, Thomas Fermi model, Fermi gas at low temperatures, application to electrons in solids

The Bose gas: photons, phonons, Debye specific heat, Bose-Einstein condensation, equation of state, liquid helium. The order parameter, Broken symmetry, Ising spin model, Ginsburg Landau theory, mean-field theory, critical exponents.

Text Books

E Books