Thermal and Statistical Physics

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Lecture 10: Fermi-Dirac Distribution Function Sep 26, 2005

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Why no two pieces of matter may occupy the same space at the same time. Fermions are antisocial; bosons are social. Bosonic examples: lasers and superfluid helium. All about Fermions. Fermions obey the Pauli exclusion principle, and each state may have either 0 or 1 fermions in it, and no more. Class Discussions: more about aluminum, what about positrons, why gecko feet are sticky. Simulation Demo: Fermi distrubution function at various temperatures.

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Lecture 9: Gibbs Factor and Gibbs Sum Sep 21, 2005

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When the system and reservoir can trade particles, you can't use the Boltzmann factor and the partition function anymore. Instead, use the Gibbs factor, and the grand partition function (or Gibbs sum). We introduce these new things, and then apply them to semiconductors, aluminum soft drink cans, and blood.

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Lecture 8: Chemical Potential Sep 19, 2005

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Introducing a new thermodynamically conjugate pair of variables: number of particles and chemical potential. Internal and external chemical potential. Voltmeters measure the total chemical potential. Great class brainstorm on internal voltages in your life. How to get a theory named after yourself. Spins in a magnetic field. Why atmospheric pressure falls off with height, hiking in high altitude, and how to solve that deuterated Kool-Aid problem we talked about in Lecture 6. Lead-Acid batteries and your car.

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Lecture 7: Planck Blackbody Radiation Sep 14, 2005

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Deriving Planck's law of blackbody radiation. How to use it to tell the temperature of a star. Discussions about stars -- absorption lines and redshifts, and how to get the temperature correct anyway. Student demo of astronomy course software -- very cool.
Counting photons is like counting phonons. (Phonons are quantized vibrational modes in solids.) Visual aid: model of a squishy crystal to demonstrate phonons. Debye law of heat capacity due to phonons in solids.

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Lecture 6: Ideal Gas Law, Planck Blackbody Radiation Sep 12, 2005

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Deriving the ideal gas law. Equipartition Theorem. Entropy of Mixing.
Hot things glow -- or how night vision goggles work (Planck blackbody radiation). Analyzing star spectra. Class discussions: Mixing 2 colors of Kool-Aid, and how to make heavy Kool-Aid out of deuterated water. Why deuterated water can extend the snow skiing season, but is unfortunately toxic.

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Lecture 5: Free Energy and Maxwell Relations Sep 07, 2005

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Helmholtz Free Energy is the right energy to use when temperature and volume are used as control variables. Free Energy and the Partition Function. Maxwell Relations -- you can derive them all. Legendre Transforms. Ideal Gas. Quantum Concentration.
Why some slow processes are still irreversible, as with toast and frogs.

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Lecture 4: Partition Function and Thermodynamic Identity Aug 31, 2005

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Boltzmann Factor, Partition Function and how to calculate everything else from it.
Live near lakes because they have a high heat capacity. Energy and Heat Capacity of a two state system, Definition of a reversible process, Definition of pressure, The Thermodynamic Identity, Thermodynamically Conjugate variables.
Digressions: Is toasting bread a reversible process? Do microwaves get water hotter than other heating methods?

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Lecture 3: Entropy, Temperature, and the Laws of Thermodynamics Aug 29, 2005

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Fundamental assumption of statistical mechanics: all accessible states are equally likely. Ensemble averages are weighted averages. Two systems in thermal contact. How to define entropy and temperature. How to take partial derivatives. The laws of thermodynamics.
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Lecture 2: Multiplicity Function Aug 24, 2005

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Why is the most probable configuration important?
Multiplicity Function is a gaussian in the two-state system.
Weighted averages. Introduction to partition function.

Lecture 2 Audio

Lecture 1: What is Statistical Mechanics and Why Does It Work? Aug 23, 2005

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