PHYSICS 2541

Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics

Note: This syllabus is available on the WWW at

http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~cls/courses/p2541

TERM (Spring 2006-2007)

• Lecturer: Dr. Chandralekha Singh

• Office: 218 A Allen Hall

• Office hours: 1 pm on Tues, Thurs or stop by anytime you find me in the office

• Phone: 624-9045

• E-mail (BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME): clsingh@pitt.edu

• Lectures: Tues, Thurs 9.30-10.50 am, (Allen 103)

• Text: Statistical Mechanics by R. K. Pathria, Second edition, Elsevier

• Grader: Boa Akgun (TA office: 5th Floor Allen, TA office, phone:624-1826)

• Grader's email boa4+@pitt.edu

Goals and Objectives

This is a graduate-level course designed to help you develop a good grasp of the fundamental concepts in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. A major goal is also to enable you to develop logical reasoning skills to explain or predict diverse phenomena, and to become good problem solvers and independent learners. Remember that all questions are good questions, and there is a good chance that if you are having trouble understanding a concept, others are also struggling with the same concept.

Course Description

After reviewing thermodynamics, we will at least cover chapters 1-8 in Pathria's book which includes material on the statistical basis of thermodynamics, elements of ensemble theory, various types of ensembles, formulation of quantum statistics, ideal Bose and Fermi systems. We will cover some additional material if time permits. A majority of the assignments will be drawn from the text. Hence, it is a good idea for you to purchase the text or have regular access to it. There will be a copy on reserve in the Physics Library in OEH. There may be some assignments from outside the book as well. It is highly recommended that you read the relevant chapter ahead of time. There may also be material covered in the class and in some homework assignments that will not be from the book. It is your responsibility to come to the class and to have knowledge of the material covered from the book and out of the book. The following books are reference books for the course. There is a copy of most of these in the physics library in OEH on the reserve: Fundamental of Statistical and Thermal Physics by F. Reif, Thermodynamics by H. B. Callen, 2nd Ed., John Wiley and Sons 1985, Statistical Mechanics by S. K. Ma, Statstical Mechanics by Huang, Statistical Physics by Landau and Lipshitz (3rd edition, part I), Pergamon Press, Equilibrium Statistical Physics (2nd edition) by Pischke and Bergersen, World Scientific, Thermal Physics by Kittel and Kroemer (undergraduate), Thermal Physics by D. Schroeder (undergraduate).

Online Stuff using Courseweb

Useful information including assignments for this course will be available at the Courseweb site for this course. You can log on to this site by going to http://courseweb.pitt.edu and typing your university unix user name and password. This site can also be used for discussion forums related to this course in which your instructor and fellow classmates can participate.

Homework

Homework is an integral part of learning the material of this course. The homework will be assigned every Tuesday and collected the following Thursday. The solutions will be posted on the courseweb the same week by Friday noon. It is strongly recommended that you discuss the course material and homework with your peers but you CANNOT copy others homework solutions. You are strongly encouraged to work on the questions/problems yourself before you get help from peers/instructor. Homework performance will count approximately 25% in determining the final grade.

Discussion Class

There will be an optional discussion class each week in which you can ask questions about the material covered in the class or homework. This will provide a forum to discuss things with your peers and instructor. Since I would like all of you to have the opportunity to participate in this session, I request that you give me your schedule by Friday January 6 telling me when you will NOT be available. That way I can find a time for the discussion class when everybody is available.

Peer Instruction

To ensure that you are understanding the underlying concepts covered during the lecture, I will interrupt the class several times during lectures to pose a conceptual question. You will be asked first to think about the question by yourself, and later discuss it with your neighbor. Then, I will poll the class to see how many of you have understood the concepts.

Grading Policy

There will be one mid-term exam and a cumulative final examination. The date for the mid-term exam and the final exam will be announced at least a week before the exam.

The course grade is expected to be determined by the mid-term exam grade (25%), the final exam (50%), and the homework grade (25%). There will be ABSOLUTELY no make-up examinations so please do not miss them.

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. Academic integrity is very important. Anybody found cheating in the course will obtain a failing grade in the course.