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| <div style="font-size:160%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;color:#000"> [[Image:UDcoaCweb.jpg|left|100px]] PHYS 813: Quantum Statistical Mechanics</div> | | <div style="font-size:160%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;color:#000"> [[Image:UDcoaCweb.jpg|left|100px]] PHYS 813: Quantum Statistical Mechanics</div> |
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| <div style="top:+0.2em;font-size: 100%"> The 12-hour version of the course was offered at the [http://phys.cts.nthu.edu.tw/actnews/actnews.php?Sn=394797 National Taiwan University] in March 2010</div>
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| <div style="top:+0.2em;font-size: 100%"> The 15-hour version of the course will be offered at the [[Media:plakat.pdf|University of Belgrade]], Serbia in June 2010</div>
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Revision as of 18:04, 13 December 2010
PHYS 813: Quantum Statistical Mechanics
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Course Topics
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This is the second course in a sequence (PHYS 616 + PHYS 813) aimed to introduce physics graduate students to basic concepts and tools of statistical physics. Statistical physics is difficult to teach and learn due to:
- students typically have had little experience making the connection between microscopic and macroscopic phenomena,
- a deep understanding of the probability theory is important,
- the solution of a single equation or a set of equations such as Newton laws, Maxwell equations, or Schrodinger equation is not central to statistical physics, so that there are no standard procedures that work for a large class of problems and many calculations are unfamiliar to students,
- there are few exactly solvable problems.
Thus, the course will focus
with application to
areas of relevance to research in DPA, such as magnetism, condensed
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- proper and improper mixed states in quantum mechanics and the density operator,
- entanglement and decoherence in quantum mechanics,
- equilibrium partition function for noninteracting bosons and fermions,
- electrons in solids,
- stellar astrophysics,
- Bose-Einstein condensation in cold atomic gases,
- phase transitions and critical phenomena (with emphasis on magnetic systems),
- mean field theory vs. renormalization group methods,
- quantum phase transitions,
- elements of nonequilibrium statistical physics: Boltzmann equation, Kubo formula and quantum master equations.
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News
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- Final exam is scheduled on 05/21 at 8:00AM in harp Lab 122.
- Homework Set 5 has been posted and is due on 05/21.
- Homework Set 6 has been posted for students wishing to collect extra credit.
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Lecture in Progress
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- Lecture 9: Renormalization group (RG) theory of phase transitions
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Quick Links
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