[Dr. Jayandren Rasaiah] Course Offerings -- (Schedule Variable)

Statistical Thermodynamics:
(CHY 673 / PHY 512)

(3 Credit Hours)

This course is offered to graduate students in chemistry, physics, biochemistry and chemical engineering.

Prerequisites: Undergraduate Physical Chemistry, Modern Physics or equivalent

Syllabus

• Thermodynamics of fluids and magnetic systems. Critical phenomena and exponents. Thermodynamics of surfaces.
• The Ergodic Theorem. The Microcanonical, Canonical and Grand Canonical Ensembles. Fluctuations.
• Applications to Non-interacting (ideal) Systems. Photons and Phonons. Einstein and Fermi-Dirac Statistics. The Langmuir Adsorption Isotherm. The Classical limit and Ideal Gases. Chemical Equilibria and Ideal Gases. Ideal Dipoles in an Electric Field.
• Non-ideal fluids. The Configurational Partition Function. Conformal Potentials and the Law of Corresponding States. Distribution Functions g(r). Integral Equation approximations for g(r). Thermodynamic Perturbation Theory.
• Cooperative phenomena. The Ising model. The Lattice Gas model and Binary alloys. Mean Field Theories. Landau-Ginsburg Theory. High and Low Temperature Expansions. Widom and Kadanoff Scaling. Intoduction to Renormalization group.
• Time dependent phenomena. The Liouville Equation. Time Correlation functions and Onsager's Regression Hypothesis. The Fluctuation Dissipation Theorem and Linear Response Theory. Friction and the Langevin Equation. Chemical Reaction rates-Transition State Theory and Kramers' Theory.
• Computer simulation of Simple Fluids and Magnetic systems. Introduction to Monte Carlo and Molecular dynamics.(time permitting)

Texts

• Statistical Mechanics — Lecture notes J. C. Rasaiah
• Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions, J. M.Yeomans (Oxford)
• Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics; David Chandler, (Oxford).
• Statistical mechanics Fourth edition by R.K. Paritha and P.D Beale (optional)
  or Statistical and Thermal Physics by H. Gould and J. Tobochnik

References

• Equalibrium statistical phyisics by M. Plischke and B. Bergersen
• Statistical phyics of particles and fields by M. Kardar (2 vols)
• A modern course in statistical physics by L. E. Reichl
• Statistical Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory; Charles E. Hecht (Dover)
• An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics; T. L. Hill (Dover)
• Statistical Mechanics; Donald McQuarrie (Harper and Row)
• A Course in Statistical Mechanics by H. L. Friedman (Prentice Hall)
• Statistical Mechanics; Kerson Huang, (John Wiley)
• Statistical Physics I ⅈ M. Toda, R. Kubo, N. Saito and N. Hashitsume. (Springer Verlag)
• Statistical Thermodynamics for Chemists and Biochemists; A. Ben Naim (Plenum)
• Statistical mechanics of Strongly Interacting Systems: Encyclopedia of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry; J. C. Rasaiah
• Lectures in Phase Transitions and Renormalization Group; N. Goldenfield (Adison- Wesley)
• Statistical physics: statics, dynamics, and renormalization by L. Kadanoff
• Lectures in phase transitions and renormalization group by N. Goldfield
• Theory of simple liquids by Jean-Pierre Hansen and I. R. McDonald
  Reffrences on reserve at Fogler library.