Thermodynamic and Statistical Physics

Syllabus

Core

Laws of thermodynamics and their consequences. Thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell relations, chemical potential, phase equilibria. Phase space, micro- and macro-states. Micro-canonical, canonicaland grand-canonical ensembles and partition functions. Free energy and its connection with thermodynamic quantities. Classical and quantum statistics. Ideal Bose and Fermi gases. Principle of detailed balance. Black body radiation and Planck's distribution law.

Advanced

First- and second-order phase transitions. Diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and ferromagnetism. Ising model. Bose-Einstein condensation. Diffusion equation. Random walk and Brownian motion. Introduction to nonequilibrium processes.