(open classical) Teaching

PHY2023_LectNotes.pdf

Thermal physics

In the period 2019–2022 Luis lectured on Thermal physics at the University of Exeter.

The 11-week-long course is self-contained, and is meant for second-year physics/natural science students. To keep it simple, it focuses on single-component expansive gaseous systems, leaving chemical reactions, mixtures and dielectric/magnetic materials aside. Every attemp is made to derive rather than to introduce.

The course covers basic thermodynamics and some advanced topics, such as phase transitions and liquefaction. It also gives a historical introduction to statistical mechanics, closely following Maxwell, Boltzmann and Gibbs.

The lecture notes are updated frequently and available for download here (last updated August 2022).

Lecture_notes_on_statistical_physics.pdf

Statistical physics

Luis also taught statistical physics in 2021–2023 at the University of Exeter.

This is a short 11-week crash course on quantum statistical mechanics. It was intended for 4th year masters students.

It mostly follows "States of Matter" by David L. Goldstein. It introduces the foundations of statistical physics and refreshes some key elements from basic thermodynamics. The course then discusses the physics of perfect gases of bosons and fermions, Bose–Einstein condensation, degenerate Fermi gases and the heat capacity of solids.