Computational Physics (PHYS 373)
Spring Semester (152)
Course Description:
Statistical Physics, developing both thermodynamics and statistical mechanics simultaneously. Concepts of temperature, laws of thermodynamics, entropy thermodynamics relations, free energy. Applications to phase equilibrium, multi-component systems, chemical reactions, and thermodynamics cycles. Applications of statistical mechanics to physical systems; introduction to treatment of Maxwell-Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics with applications. Computational aspects of free energy, entropy and magnetization for various classical and quantum distributions.
Instructor: Dr. Abdullah Al-Sunaidi
(asunaidi@kfupm.edu.sa)
Office : Bldg. 6-146
Tel. 3-860-3752
Office Hours: 9.00-10.50 (Sun. Tue and Thur)
Textbook : Concepts in Thermal Physics by Blundell and Blundell, 2nd Edition, Oxford (2010).
| Weeks | Material | Assignments | Due Date | Notes |
| 1 | Review of Physics 102 Thermodynamics. Chapter 1 and 2 of the textbook will also be covered. | HW1 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 3.5(d,e,g) |
2.2.2014 | |
| 2 | Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution and some of its applications | HW2 4.3, 4.7(a), 4.9, 5.4, 5.7, 6.6 |
9.2.2014 | |
| 3 | The First Law of Thermodynamics | HW3 6.6, 11.2, 12.2, 12.5, 13. 7 |
25.2.2014 | |
| 4 | The Second Law of Thermodynamics; Entropy (We will use Schroeder Book) | HW-4 | Exam 1 | |
| 5 | Thermodynamic Potentials and Some Thermodynamic Relations (derivatives) | HW6 16.2, 16.3, 17.2, 17.3, 17.5. 17.7 |
13.3.2014 | |
| 6 | The third law; equipartition of energy | HW#5 | 21.4.2014 | |
| 7 | Introducing the Partition Function | Exam 2 | ||
| 8 | Statistical Mechanics of the Ideal Gas | HW7 20.1, 20.3, 20.7, |
1.4.2014 | |
| 9 | The Chemical Potential and the Gibbs Free energy | HW8 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 22.2,22.3 22.5, 22.6(a) |
10.4.2014 | |
| 10 | Phase Transitions | HW9 26.1, 26.4, 27.2, 27.3 |
17.4.2014 | |
| 11 | Relativistic Gas | Exam 3 | ||
| 12 | Blackbody Radiation | |||
| 13 | Bose and Fermi Statistics | |||
| 14 | Quantum Gases | |||
| 15 | The Ising Model | |||
| 16 | Final Exams Week |
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