PHYX 6410—Spring 2009

Title: Statistical Mechanics I
Professor: Eric Held
Time: 1:30 - 2:20 M W F
Semester: Spring 2006

Course Objectives
1. Develop a fundamental understanding of the connection
 between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds.

Syllabus

1. Ensemble Theory   canonical, grand canonical and microcanonical ensembles
Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics
 ideal monotomic and diatomic gases

2. Classical and Quantum Statistics classical partition function and Liouville's theorem
 ideal Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein gases
 crystals

3. Kinetic Theory of Gases  
 Boltzmann equation
 Chapman-Enskog method
 Fokker-Planck equation

Text: Statistical Mechanics, Donald A. McQuarrie

Grading:
Homework (6) 60%
Midterm (1) 20%
Final 20%

Honor Code:

Policies regarding the honor code will be enforced and can be found at: http://www.usu.edu/policies/PDF/Acad-Integrity.pdf