Year:11/12
Department:Physics
Level:Part II (yr 3)
Learning Hours:100
Credit Points:10
Weight:0.33
Course Convenor:Dr OV Kolosov
Status:Live
Syllabus Rules
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Prior to PHYS322, the student must have successfully completed:
Assessment Rules
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CMod description
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Boltzmann statistic. Statistical treatment of gases -
Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions. Applications to gases, electrons,
photons and phonons. Quantum fluids at low temperature and in the stars.
Curriculum Design: Outline Syllabus
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Introduction. Review of the ideas, techniques and results of statistical physics. Revision to application to an assembly of localised particles. The Boltzmann distribution.
Gases. The density of states - fitting waves into boxes.
Statistics of gases. Fermions and bosons. The two distributions for gases.
Maxwell-Boltzmann gases. Velocity distribution.
Fermi-Dirac gases. Electrons in metals and semiconductors. Fermi energy. Liquid helium-3.
Bose-Einstein gases. Bose-Einstein Condensation. Superfluid helium-4.
Phoney Bose-Einstein gases. Photon gas and black-body radiation. Phonon gas and thermal properties of solids.
Astrophysical applications. White dwarf stars, neutron stars.
Special features:
The module provides an uncomplicated and direct approach to the subject, using frequent illustrations from low temperature physics.
Educational Aims: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
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To provide a unified survey of the statistical physics of gases, including a full treatment of quantum statistics.
To give fuller insight into the meaning of entropy.
To discuss applications of statistics to various types of gas.
Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
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On completion of the module, students should be able to:
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describe the role of statistical concepts in understanding macroscopic systems;
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deduce the Boltzmann distribution for the probability of finding a system in a particular quantum state;
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deduce the Einstein and Debye expressions for the heat capacity of an insulating solid and compare the theory with accepted experimental results;
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deduce the equation of state and the heat capacity of an ideal gas.
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deduce the Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions;
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describe superfluidity in liquid helium, Bose-Einstein condensation and black body radiation.
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deduce the heat capacity of a electron gas.
Curriculum Design: Select Bibliography
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(E) A M Gu´enault Statistical Physics (2nd ed), Chapman and Hall (1995)
