Course syllabus

Jump to today

Dear all,

The link to the Zoom-room for the oral exam tomorrow (Friday) is:

https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/64795716859?pwd=OW9GZG52bXZMaURnQmVHSW9KZVdYZz09

Meeting ID: 647 9571 6859
Password: 123768

Join the Zoom room 5-10 minutes before your alloted exam time. You will then be put in the waiting room. When your exam time starts you will be transferred to a breakout room where you will be told which two problems to review before the discussion. When it's time for the oral part, we bring you back in to the main oral session while the next person in line will be moved from the waiting room to the breakout room for their preparation etc.

It's important that you are on time in order that we can get things to run smoothly. You must also be able to ID yourself (driver's licence, passport...).   

You will see your grades once they are reported into LADOK. We will report in all the grades at the same time, i.e., after all the orals have been given.

Best regards,

Andreas and Janine  

Note:

Tutorials will be on Thursdays 15:15-16:00.  Passcode: 6d177h
Consultation hour/help desk on Mondays 14:00-14:45. Passcode: 2k386g
Zoom links can be found under Zoom or in the calendar.

 

Course-PM

TIF305 / FYM305 TIF305 / FYM305 Statistical physics lp2 HT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Physics

Contact details

Course purpose and contents

Statistical physics comprises several general concepts and very powerful tools to study the properties of many-degree-of-freedom systems as well as the influence of the external world on systems. The latter leads to stochastic fluctuations, i.e., different forms of noise. The methods of statistical physics have a wide range of applications such as in astrophysics, biophysics, materials science, quantum information, economy, and even social sciences. The purpose of this course is to introduce the students to some of the most commonly used concepts and tools of statistical mechanics and their application in different fields of physics. The contents in the course comprise:


- Brownian motion and phase space dynamics (single-particle vs ensemble description)
- Density matrix approach (quantum statistical physics)
- Phase transitions and interacting systems
- Entropy, irreversibility and information
- Master equation and detailed balance
- Linear response, susceptibilities, noise, fluctuation-dissipation theorem

Schedule

TimeEdit

Course literature:

- James P. Sethna: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity, freely available to download from the link: http://pages.physics.cornell.edu/~sethna/StatMech/EntropyOrderParametersComplexity20.pdf

- Linda E. Reichl: A Modern Course in Statistical Physics, 4th Edition (2016).
- Lecture notes.

Course design

The course will have two lectures and one problem-solving session per week during the first seven weeks of the course. The eighth and final week is devoted to self-studies.

The course will be given remotely using Zoom. Links will be sent out and can be found under the heading "Announcements".

The deadlines for hand ins are strict. Late hand ins will only be graded if the student first contacts the examiner and provides information of the cause of the delay and after an agreement on a new dead line set by the examiner. The examiner has to possibility to deny extensions of deadlines.  

 

Examination form

Examination and grading will be based on the solutions to the hand-in problems and performance on a final oral examination in January (date to be determined).
The oral examination will focus on the work done in handed in problems by the students. The assessment during the oral exam can contain contain questions both on the specific details of calculations performed by the students and on conceptual understanding.  Before the oral examination, students will have 30 minutes to prepare by reviewing the specific topics and hand ins they will be tested on. 

Grading:
For the problem sets the following is required: 

Chalmers students:
Pass grade 3: At least 9/21 on each problem set to pass.
For grade 4: At least 9/21 on each problem set and an average of 13 points for all home problems (a total of 91 points).
For grade 5: At least 9/21 on each problem set and an average of 17 points for all home problems ( a total of 119 points).

GU students:
Pass grade (G): At least 9/21 on each problem set to pass.
Pass with distinction: At least 9/21 on each problem set and an average of 15 points for all home problems (a total of 105 points).

To obtain the grade corresponding to the criteria above from the hand-ins, you should on the oral exam be able to answer questions on your handed in home problems.

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due