Notes for Statistical Mechanics II

This page will contain PDF files for the class notes. They are posted after we complete a one- to-two week section of material:

  • Part 1 – Review of basic stat. mech., phase transitions, introducing Ising and Lattice Gas models, Frustration
  • Part 2 – Ising model partition functions, transfer matrices, Peierls Theorem, Onsager’s exact 2-D solution
  • Part 3 – Mean Field Theory, Gibb-Bogoliubov (variational) MFT, Spin-spin correlations
  • Part 4 – RG theory
  • Part 5 – Monte Carlo, XY and Heisenberg models, Long-range correlations
  • Crystals – Einstein Crystals, The Debye Model, Phonons, Debye Frequency
  • Part 6 – Liquids, Reduced Distribution Functions, g(r), reversible work theorem, Thermodynamics with g(r)
  • Part 7 – Dynamics in Fluids, self correlation functions, time correlations, R2(t), velocity autocorrelations, Green-Kubo relations, simple models for Cvv(t)
  • Part 8 – Correlation functions and responses to disturbances, functional derivatives, linear response theory, self-consistent integral equations for g(r) from u(r), linear response in harmonic oscillators
  • Part 9 – Langevin Dynamics, Harmonic Baths, Laplace Transforms, Spectral shifts in liquids
  • Part 10 – Free Energy Perturbation, Thermodynamic Integration, Jarzynski’s Equality
  • Part 11 – Quantum Mechanical Aspects of Statistical Mechanics, Density Matrices, Propagator / Boltzmann isomorphism