FY524: Thermal physics II (5 ECTS)

STADS: 07011401

Level
Bachelor course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the spring semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: paolo.sibani@sdu.dk

Additional teachers
svt@sdu.dk

Timetable
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Comment:
Samlæses med FY811 og 2. del af FY509.

Prerequisites:
None

Academic preconditions:
FY521 Introductory Quantum Mechanics I or the first part of FY507 Introductory quantum mechanics must have been attended.

Course introduction
The course gives an introduction to the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and shows their applications to selected physical and chemical systems and to the interpretation of experiments.

Expected learning outcome
At the end of the course, the students should be able to:

1. Explain and apply the statistical basis of the laws of thermodynamics
2. Apply the relationships betwen thermal response functions and statistical correlations
3. Formulate and use equilibrium conditions in statistical mechanics
4. Apply the most common ensembles for calculations of average and dispersion values of standard variables
5. Calculate thermodynamics functions for classical and quantum gases
6. Write down partition sums for molecules and solids and calculate the appropriate thermodynamic variables
7. Apply the mean field approximation for strongly interacting systems

Subject overview
The topics are:

• Applications of statistical mechanics to simple, realistic systems, e.g. quantum systems, phase and chemical equilibria, and the mean field theory of interacting systems.
• Experimental exercises illustrate the importance of Fermi-Dirac statistics for the description of the properties of solids. A written report is written by groups of 1 or 2 students. The report must contain: the needed theory, the measured data, and an interpretation of the data.
• Vibration and rotation spectra for diatomic molecules.
• Einstein’s and Debye’s theories of lattice vibrations
• Black body radiation and Bose-Einstein condensation
• Phase changes are discussed on a statistical mechanical basis.
• Mean field theory of interacting systems: Ising model of ferro-magnetism and Debye-Hückel theory of diluted ionic solutions.

Literature

• S.J. Blundell og K.M. Blundell: Concepts in Thermal Physics, (second edition) 2010, Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-956210-7 (paperback) findes også i Hard-udgave.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam
Participation in experimental exercises is a prerequisite for participation in the exam. Pass/fail, internal evaluation by teacher.

Assessment and marking:
Three written project reports followed by an oral exam with the project reports as a starting point, 7-point grading scale, external examiner.

The mode of exam at the re-examination may differ from the mode of exam at the ordinary exam.

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.
Intro phase: 20 hours
Skills training phase: 30 hours, hereof:
 - Tutorials: 22 hours
 - Laboratory exercises: 8 hours

Educational activities

Language
This course is taught in Danish.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.