Welcome to Physics 4302 Statistical & Thermal Physics!

Brief Overview of the Structure of Physics Where does Statistical Physics fit into the overall organization (structure) of Physics? What about Thermodynamics? How is Thermodynamics related to Statistical Physics?

Physics History, Physics Trivia Occasionally, I’ll make comments on Physics History, Famous Physicists & Physics Trivia (interesting to me!):

Some interesting (to me!) facts about Some Nobel Prize winners! For example, what follows are Some interesting (to me!) facts about Some Nobel Prize winners! Niels Bohr 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for “His services in the investigation of the structure of atoms & of the radiation emanating from them.”

Notice the Figure Caption! Niels Bohr 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for “His services in the investigation of the structure of atoms & of the radiation emanating from them.”

*Harald Bohr later became a famous mathematician! Interesting (to me!) Trivia! Niels Bohr is the only Nobel Prize Winner to have ALSO been an Olympic Medalist! In the 1908 Olympics, he & his brother Harald* were on the Danish soccer team, which won a sliver medal! *Harald Bohr later became a famous mathematician!

More Interesting (to me. ) Trivia More Interesting (to me!) Trivia! Neils Bohr’s son, Aage Bohr also received a Nobel Prize in Physics! He shared the 1975 Nobel Prize with B. Mottelson & J. Rainwater  “for the discovery of the connection between collective motion & particle motion in atomic nuclei & the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection”.

More Interesting (to me. ) Trivia More Interesting (to me!) Trivia! Other families with more than one Nobel Prize!

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part I In 1903, the husband & wife were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “In recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel” First Woman Nobel Prize Winner! Pierre Curie (1859-1906) Marie (Skłodowska) Curie (1867-1934)

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part II Nobel Prize in 2 Different Sciences! In 1911, Marie Curie was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry! “In recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element".” Marie (Skłodowska) Curie (1867-1934)

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part II More Trivia! Why didn’t Pierre Curie also share this Nobel Prize with Marie?

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part II More Trivia! Why didn’t Pierre Curie also share this Nobel Prize with Marie? Because he was dead!!

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part II More Trivia! Why didn’t Pierre Curie also share this Nobel Prize with Marie? Because he was dead!! Unfortunately & tragically, he was killed in an accident in 1906!

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part II More Trivia! Why didn’t Pierre Curie also share this Nobel Prize with Marie? Because he was dead!! Unfortunately & tragically, he was killed in an accident in 1906! Nobel’s will does not allow a Nobel Prize to be awarded to a deceased person!

Radioactivity & the Curies, Part III Marie & Pierre’s daughter! In 1935, the husband & wife were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “In recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements” Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900-1958)

J.J. Thomson the Electron In 1906, J.J. Thomson was awarded the Physics Nobel Prize “In recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases”. He is credited with the discovery of the electron, a particle! Sir Joseph J. Thomson (1856-1940)

George P. Thomson & the Electron J.J. Thomson’s son, George P. Thomson also received a Nobel Prize in Physics! He shared the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics with Clinton J. Davisson “For the experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals”. That is, they are credited with the discovery that the electron is also a wave! Sir George P. Thomson (1892-1975)

Electron, Proton, Neutron More Trivia! J.J. Thomson, Physics Nobel Prize, 1906, discovered the electron. J.J. Thomson’s PhD student, Ernest Rutherford, Chemistry Nobel Prize, 1908, discovered the proton! Ernest Rutherford’s PhD student, James Chadwick, Physics Nobel Prize, 1935, discovered the neutron!

X-Ray Diffraction & The Bragg Equation In 1915, the father & son were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “For their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-Rays". Sir William H. Bragg (1862-1942) Sir William L. Bragg (1890-1971) The younger Bragg was fighting in WWI when he received the Nobel Prize!

Invention of the Transistor In 1956, these 3 were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “For their researches on semiconductors & their discovery of the transistor effect”. John Bardeen (1908-1991) Walter Brattain (1902-1987) William Schockley (1910-1989)

Theory of Superconductivity Two Physics Nobel Prizes! In 1972, these 3 were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics John Bardeen (1908-1991) Leon Cooper (1930-present) J. Robert Schrieffer (1931-present) “For their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory”.

Nobel Prizes in two different fields! Linus Pauling Nobel Prizes in two different fields! In 1954, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his research into the nature of the chemical bond & its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances”. Linus Pauling (1901-1994)

Nobel Prizes in two different fields! Linus Pauling Nobel Prizes in two different fields! In 1954, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his research into the nature of the chemical bond & its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances”. Linus Pauling (1901-1994) In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his tireless work on behalf of nuclear weapons disarmament in the world”.

Overview of The Structure of Physics: Where do Statistical &Thermal Physics fit in to the structure & organization?

The Structure of Physics Classical Physics is The Foundation of pure & applied (macroscopic) physics & engineering! Newton’s Laws + Electromagnetism + Statistical Mechanics + Thermodynamics. (The Latter Topics are what this course is about!) These together give a good description of most of the macroscopic world. Classical Mechanics (Newton, Lagrange, Hamilton,..) The Physics of the 17th & 18th Centuries. Still useful in the 21st Century!!

Special (& General) Relativity Physics Structure Classical Electromagnetism & Optics (Newton, Coulomb, Gauss, Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell,..) The Physics of the 18th & 19th centuries. Still useful in the 21st Century! High Speeds (v ≤ ~ c)  Special (& General) Relativity (Einstein, ..) 20th Century Physics!

Small Size (atomic & smaller): Quantum Mechanics Physics Structure Small Size (atomic & smaller): Quantum Mechanics (Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg….) 20th century physics! Relativity + Quantum Mechanics: Relativistic Quantum Mechanics (Dirac,…) 20th century physics! Quantum Field Theory (Feynman, Schwinger, ..) 20th century physics!

“Mechanics” The 4 Fundamental HOW objects move (behave) under given forces. (Usually) Does not deal with the sources of forces. Answers the question: Given the forces, how do objects move? Forces in the universe are classified into 4 types: The 4 Fundamental Forces Of Nature! Some version of Mechanics applies to all four!

The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength

The Strong Nuclear Force: The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength The Strong Nuclear Force: Binds nuclei together. Explained by the “Standard Model” & Quantum Chromodynamics. Still being researched.

The Electromagnetic Force: The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength The Strong Nuclear Force: Binds nuclei together. Explained by the “Standard Model” & Quantum Chromodynamics. Still being researched. The Electromagnetic Force: E&M phenomena. Chemical forces. Most everyday forces. Maxwell, Coulomb, Ampere, Faraday, ...

The Electromagnetic Force: The Weak Nuclear Force: The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength The Strong Nuclear Force: Binds nuclei together. Explained by the “Standard Model” & Quantum Chromodynamics. Still being researched. The Electromagnetic Force: E&M phenomena. Chemical forces. Most everyday forces. Maxwell, Coulomb, Ampere, Faraday, ... The Weak Nuclear Force: Nuclear decay. Fermi, Bethe, others. Electroweak Theory.

The Strong Nuclear Force: The Electromagnetic Force: The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength The Strong Nuclear Force: Binds nuclei together. Explained by the “Standard Model” & Quantum Chromodynamics. Still being researched. The Electromagnetic Force: E&M phenomena. Chemical forces. Most everyday forces. Maxwell, Coulomb, Ampere, Faraday, ... The Weak Nuclear Force: Nuclear decay. Fermi, Bethe, others. Electroweak Theory. The Gravitational Force: Newton (classical mechanics), Einstein (general relativity), Hawking….

The 4 Fundamental Forces of Nature The sources of the forces, in order of decreasing strength

The Four Fundamental Forces The “Electro-Weak” Force Since ~ the late 1960’s, in some sense, the 4 fundamental forces have been reduced to three! The Electromagnetic Force & the Weak Nuclear Force were combined into one theory. This was done by S. Weinberg & A. Salaam. For this work, they received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics!

The Standard Model of Particle Physics “Periodic Table for Elementary Particles”! Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) & the Electroweak Theory Protons & Neutrons consist of 3 Quarks each.

The Standard Model

The Standard Model

The Standard Model

The Rest of Physics! Statistical Mechanics: What we’ve mentioned so far is  all of physics except: Statistical Mechanics: (This course ≡ “Stat Mech” ) “Stat Mech” is the mechanics of systems of huge numbers (>> ~ 1023) of particles. Stat Mech: 1. Uses Probability & Statistics to calculate macroscopic properties from microscopic force laws. 2. Applies to BOTH the Classical & the Quantum worlds! 3. Is the major link between microscopic & macroscopic physics! 4. Contains Thermodynamics as a sub-theory!

Statistical Mechanics is important because it is the major link The Most Important Point: Statistical Mechanics is important because it is the major link between microscopic & macroscopic physics!