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Statistical Physics

This is a graduate level course on statistical physics.

Content

  1. Classical Thermodynamics (pdf)

    Temperature and the Zeroth Law; The First Law; The Second Law; Carnot Cycles; Entropy; Maxwell Relations; The Third Law. 

    Suggested Problems: Solve the following exercises from Mehran Kardar's Statistical Physics of Particles textbook

    Chapter 1: 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

    Solve Question 1 from this link. The question involves deriving Maxwell relations and certain thermodynamic identities
     

  2. Probability (pdf)

    One random variable; Some Important Probability Distributions; Many Random Variables; Central Limit Theorem; Rules for Large Numbers; Information, Entropy and Estimation

    Suggested Problems:     Solve the following exercises from Mehran Kardar's Statistical Physics of Particles textbook

    Chapter 2: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11

"Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906 by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics."

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- David Goodstein

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