Physics 4125: we are going to Moodle
Instructor: Ilya Vekhter, vekhter.at.lsu.edu Office hours: MW 1:00-2:00 zoom via Moodle
Midterm exams: one in-class, one take-home
Final exam: take-home
Announcements: corrections to the syllabus available here
Syllabus: available in pdf here
Approximate lecture
schedule/reading assignments (watch for changes):
Date Chapter – sections Topic
Week 1
1/13 1 1-2 Equilibrium and the Ideal Gas
1/15 1 3-4 Ideal gas cont. and Equipartition
1/17 1 4-5 Heat and Work
Week 2
1/20 No class MLK Birthday observance
1/22 1 6 Heat Capacity HW#1 Due Solutions
Final day for dropping without receiving a “W”
1/23 Final Day for Adding Course
1/24 1 7 Rates of Processes
Week 3
1/27 2 1-2 Probability review, two-state systems
1/29 2 2-3 Einstein solids; interacting systems HW#2 Due Solutions
1/31 2 3 Interacting Systems
Week 4
2/3 2 4 Large Systems
2/5 2 5 The Ideal Gas HW#3 Due Solutions
2/7 2 6 Entropy
Week 5
2/10 2 6 Entropy cont.
2/12 3 1 Temperature HW#4 Due Solutions
2/14 3 2 Entropy and Heat
Week 6
2/17 3 3 Paramagnetism
2/19 3 4 Mechanical Equilibrium & Pressure HW#5 Due Solutions
2/21 EXAM I (Ch. 1-2, 3.1-3) Formula Sheet
Week 7
2/24 Mardi Gras Holiday
2/26 Mardi Gras Holiday
2/28 3 5 Diffusive Equilibrium and Chemical Potential
Week 8 (APS March Meeting, I am away M-Th)
3/2 4 1-2 Carnot Engines and Refrigerators
3/4 4 3 Real Engines HW#6 Due Solutions
3/6 4 4 Real Refrigerators
Week 9
3/9 5 1 Free Energy as Available Work
3/11 5 2 Free Energy as a force toward equilib. HW#7 Due Solutions
3/13 5 3 Phase Transformations
Forced break
3/30 6 1 The Boltzmann Factor
4/1 6 2-3 Average Values and Equipartition
4/3
6
4
Maxwell Speed Distribution
Quiz due
Week 13
4/6 6 5-6 Partition function HW#8 Due
4/8
6 7
Ideal Gas Revisited
4/9 Quiz due
4/10 Good Friday Holiday
Week 14
4/13 7 1-2 The Gibbs Factor HW#9 Due
4/15 7 2-3 Bosons and Fermions Quiz due
4/16 EXAM II
4/17 7 3 Degenerate Fermi gas
Week 15
4/20 7 3 Degenerate Fermi gas HW#10 Due
4/22 7 4 Blackbody Radiation
4/24 7 5 Debye Theory of Solids Quiz due
Week 17
4/27 7 6 Bose-Einstein Condensation
4/29 8 2 Ising model: mean field Quiz due
5/1 Review HW#11 Due
Then: Final Exam!!!