Physics and Astronomy - Course Details
PHYS617: Statistical Mechanics (PAST/FUTURE SEMESTER)
Offering:
Spring, Class 3, cr. 3
Prerequisites:
PHYS-600 or equivalent
View Additional Prerequisites
Description:
This is a core course in Statistical Mechanics intended for all Physics graduate students at Purdue.
The material covered is at a somewhat more advanced level than the typical undergraduate course
on the subject. Topics will range from a treatment of the Boltzmann equation to an introduction to
phase transitions and critical phenomena. A good knowledge of Thermodynamics is necessary. If
you have not taken a course in Thermodynamics a number of good books on the subject are
available and should be studied before attending the course. Although a certain knowledge of
mathematical methods for Physics (like for instance the material covered in PHYS-600 and
PHYS-601 at Purdue) would be very useful, the course is mostly self-contained.
Instructor(s):
Lyanda-Geller, Yuli
Email:
yuli@purdue.edu
Textbook(s) for Spring 2013
| Title | Author | Edition | ISBN | Publisher | Req/Opt | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RECOMMENDED: Statistical Physics | R. K. Pathria | 2nd; (August 6, 1996) | 0750624698 | Butterworth-Heinemann | Optional | |
| RECOMMENDED: Physical Kintics (Course of Theoretical Physics) | Lifshtz and Pitaevskii | December 1981 | 0080264808 | Butterworth & Heinemann Ltd | Optional | |
| RECOMMENDED: Notes on Thermodynamics and Statistics | Enrico Fermi | September 1988 | 0226243796 | University of Chicago Press (Tx) | Optional | |
| RECOMMENDED: Statistical Mechanics | Kerson Huang | 2nd; (May 13, 1987) | 471815187 | Wiley & Sons | Optional | |
| REQUIRED: Statistical Physics Vol. 1 | Landau and Lifshitz | 3rd; (February 1969) | 0080230393 or 0080230385 (paperback) | Pergamon Press | Optional | |
| RECOMMENDED: Statisical Physics I (Lecture notes in Control and Information Sciences) | Morikazu Toda | January 1992 (Paperback) | 0387536620 | Springer | Optional |
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