Thermal and Statistical Physics (Cross-listed as PHYS 305)

Catalog description

Three hours lecture per week Prerequisite(s): PHYS 201 and MATH 350 Corequisite(s): None Addresses behavior of energy and matter in systems having many particles. Includes classical and quantum mechanical views of physical systems, and begins with basic concepts of probability and statistics. Particular emphasis will be placed on simple model systems for which quantitative results can be obtained and compared to experiment, such as ideal gases and quantum mechanical spin systems. Course includes statistics of microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles; relation between classical and quantum statistical mechanics; Planck distribution, bosons, fermions, and doped semiconductors, among others; and an introduction to kinetic theory.