Admission requirements
Successful completion the 1st year of the BSc program in physics. In particular: Classical Mechanics (a), Electromagnetic Fields, Analysis 1&2, Linear Algebra 1
Description
Statistical Physics builds a bridge between the microscopic world of atoms, molecules, objects, and the resulting collective behavior at the macroscopic level, be it a material, an organism, the universe. Using probability theory we will develop the notion of entropy. The principle of maximum entropy allows us to develop the statistical physics of systems in equilibrium, and define temperature as a physical quantity. Thermodynamics will be presented as emergent description of the concepts of statistical physics. The concepts are applied to gases, and to other examples in solid materials, biophysics, and astonomy.
Course objectives
After finishing the course you are able to analyze unknown problems by applying statistical physics concepts:
probability theory, phase space
entropy, thermal equilibrium
microcanonical ensemble, canonical ensemble, grand canonical ensemble
ensemble equivalence
classical and quantum harmonic oscillator
thermodynamic potentials, energy representation
Helmholtz free energy, Gibbs free energy
ideal gas law, heat engine, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
mean field approximation, Ising model
phase transitions
Timetable
Schedule
For detailed information go to Timetable in Brightspace
You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have sucessfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.
MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).
For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different
Mode of instruction
Lectures, self-study of written material, self-study of video material, tutorial sessions, weekly homework sets. The course is taught in English.
See Brightspace
Assessment method
Written exam with open questions. Bonus points are earned from homework problems.
Reading list
R.H. Swendsen, 'An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics', Oxford University Press.
Registration
From the academic year 2022-2023 on every student has to register for courses with the new enrollment tool MyStudyMap. There are two registration periods per year: registration for the fall semester opens in July and registration for the spring semester opens in December. Please see this page for more information.
Please note that it is compulsory to both preregister and confirm your participation for every exam and retake. Not being registered for a course means that you are not allowed to participate in the final exam of the course. Confirming your exam participation is possible until ten days before the exam.
Extensive FAQ's on MyStudymap can be found here.
Contact
Lecturer:Prof. dr. T Schmidt
Remarks
none