PHY3513 Thermal Physics 1
Credits: 3; Coreq: PHY 2049, or equivalent
First part of sequence PHY 3513-4523. Treatment of classical thermodynamics
including fundamental postulates, entropy, equations of states. Thermodynamic
equilibrium and potentials, Maxwell relations, phase transitions. (P)
Thermodynamics is the beginning of the subject
of collective phenomena. This subject provided one of the motivations
for the discovery of quantum
mechanics (Planck’s law was an attempt to understand the low
temperature specific heat of solids). J. W. Gibbs synthesized it
in
the US and it remains the foundation of the belief that systems with
large number of particles have their own laws which can be
derived from the behavior of single particles using statistical mechanics.
There is a conceptual framework here which is different from anything
you
may
have encountered
before. Most of it is based on simple calculus. Some material
at the end of the course will use functional analysis but we will introduce
that subject.
Course requirements / expectations:
Attendance at class lectures is expected. There will be reading and problem
assignments each Monday. Additional material will be provided in class
notes. The
solutions to the problems will be required the following Monday in class
(subsequently posted on the WEB). Students are encouraged to discuss
the problems with others, but the final preparation of homework should
be done independently.
Grades will be based on two exams (1 hour) during the
semester and the final exam (2 hours) for 81% of the grade. The final
exam will be cumulative
and weighted equal to the two exams during the semester. The remaining
19% will be based on the assigned problems.
Schedule: (click here)
