Lectures 1 – Course Overview Monday January 7 th (start Ch. 1 on Wed. 9 th ) Organization of the course Course web page Breakdown of the grade Schedule of topics and exams Syllabus Overview of the course History Outline of topics Reading: All of chapter 1 (pages ) I will assign the 1 st homework set on Wed.

The PHY4523 course web site All information is posted here Syllabus, homework and exam policies, etc.. Homework assignments (incl. deadlines) and solutions Course schedule with tentative exam dates Solutions to exams and practice tests A link to my PHY3513 course web page Weekly homework assignments: no excuse for NOT getting % on these. The deadlines vary from week to week. No late homework accepted. Homework assignments will be graded by a graduate TA. However, all questions about grading should be directed to the instructor (Hill). I will give short unannounced quizzes in roughly 30% of the lectures. We will use the SRS (HiTT). Remotes will be provided, but you are free to use your own also.

PHY4523 written exams In-class exams: there will be three of these (in NPB 1002), each lasting 50 minutes, and starting promptly at 11:45am. The tentative dates for these exams are: Final: There will be a cumulative 2 hour final exam (in NPB 1002) during finals week. You MUST take this exam. The best two scores out of the 3 in-class exams will be worth a total of 34% (17% each) towards your final grade. The final exam will be worth 34% towards your final grade. You MUST take all 3 of these exams (see web site for policy on make up exams, or come and talk to instructor).

About the text book If not available at the UF bookstore, try other bookstores around Gainesville. We will cover only the first 10 chapters. If you still have the book by Ashley Carter, this can serve as an excellent supplementary text. This is the first time I have used the book by Bowley and Sanchez, so I cannot comment on accuracy of, e.g. solutions. Take some time to study the appendices at the end of the book. In particular, Appendices C to E will be essential for this course and homework problems may be assigned from this material. You will also find useful integrals in Appendix B. Homework assignments mainly from end of chapter problem sets. Numerical answers to ALL of the problems are given in Appendix G, including written solutions to the odd-numbered problems. Introductory Statistical Mechanics, by R. Bowley and M. Sanchez

About the course and the instructor In terms of the concepts, the pace should be comfortable. However, the level of mathematical sophistication is substantially higher than in PHY3513. There is plenty of time for class discussion. PLEASE DON’T BE SHY. Speak up!! Ask questions. This adds to the learning experience and to the overall enjoyment of the lectures. Don’t be afraid to ask me crazy questions. I am not afraid to admit that I do not know the answer. Lectures typically include: PowerPoint slides with important ideas (posted on-line); worked examples on the board (not posted on-line); some demonstrations; discussion; and quizzes. Feel free to come to my office (NPB2263) or lab (NPB B158) at any time to discuss anything related to the course. I will also make every effort to be in my office during office hours. I have some travel during this semester, and will arrange well qualified cover on these occasions.

PHY4523 grading For those of you who have taken PHY3513 with me, note that these percentages are a bit different; there is slightly more emphasis on exams in this course. After the 2 nd exam, I will be prepared to discuss your performance with you individually, and what grade(s) you may be tracking for. This is the first time that I have taught this course, so I cannot predict what score will correspond to what grade. However

An example of PHY4523 grading PHY 3513, 2006: 15 A(40%) 8 B+(22%) 6 B(16%) 5 C(14%) 1 D(3%) Note 83% A/B+/B PHY 3513, 2007: 11 A(37%) 6 B+(20%) 9 B(30%) 3 C(10%) 1 D(3%) Note 87% A/B+/B PHY 3513 (Fall 2006)

DO THE HOMEWORK & COME TO CLASS IF YOU ARE HERE ONLY FOR THE GRADE, THE CHANCES ARE HIGH THAT YOU WILL DO POORLY. PHY 3513 ( ) ~100 data points Clear correlation between homework and exam scores.Clear correlation between homework and exam scores. Nevertheless, the exams require understanding, i.e. you will not get away with memorization of homework problems.Nevertheless, the exams require understanding, i.e. you will not get away with memorization of homework problems.

Statistical Mechanics An Overview

The early history: thermodynamics and statistical physics

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The dawn of quantum mechanics and quantum statistics * Heike Kamerlingh Onnes became the 1st physicist to liquify helium.

The dawn of quantum mechanics and quantum statistics

Statistical Mechanics What will we cover?

A review of classical thermodynamics (1st 2 chapters) Temperature, 1st law, functions of state, etc Entropy and the 2nd law, irreversible processes

Probability and Statistics PHY 3513 (Fall 2006)

Probability and Statistics

Gaussian statistics:

Probability and Entropy Suppose you toss 4 coins. There are 16 (2 4 ) possible outcomes. Each one is equally probably, i.e. probability of each result is 1/16. Let W be the number of configurations, i.e. 16 in this case, then: Boltzmann’s hypothesis concerning entropy: where k B = 1.38 × 10  23 J/K is Boltzmann’s constant.

The connection to thermodynamics Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution function Equation of state:

The bridge to thermodynamics through Z j s represent different configurations

Quantum statistics and identical particles Indistinguishable events Heisenberg uncertainty principle The indistinguishability of identical particles has a profound effect on statistics. Furthermore, there are two fundamentally different types of particle in nature: bosons and fermions. The statistical rules for each type of particle differ!

Applications Insulating solidDiatomic molecular gas Specific heats: Fermi and Bose gases