8.333 Statistical Mechanics, Fall 2002
Specific heat of a Debye solid. (Graph by Prof. Senthil Todadri.)
Highlights of this Course
This course is part of a two-course sequence in Statistical Mechanics. The web site features
problem sets and
exams.
Course Description
8.333 is the first course in a two-semester sequence on statistical mechanics. Basic principles are examined in 8.333: the laws of thermodynamics and the concepts of temperature, work, heat, and entropy. Postulates of classical statistical mechanics, micro canonical, canonical, and grand canonical distributions; applications to lattice vibrations, ideal gas, photon gas. Quantum statistical mechanics; Fermi and Bose systems. Interacting systems: cluster expansions, van der Waal's gas, and mean-field theory.