Courses
PHYS3047 Thermal and Statistical Physics (3 units)
- Prerequisite:
- PHYS2005 Heat and Motion or consent of instructor
This is a foundation course on thermodynamics and statistical physics. The basic postulates and framework of statistical mechanics will be laid out. Connections to Newton’s laws in phase space will be included. Different kinds of free energy for different ensembles will be discussed, followed by applications of the statistical formalism to simple thermodynamic systems in physics and/or chemistry. Quantum statistics of bosons and fermions will also be introduced.