Professor: Piet Brouwer,
538 Clark Hall, tel. 58963,
brouwer@ccmr.cornell.edu.
Office hours: Wednesday 4.30-5.30pm, and by appointment.
Extra office hours: Friday
Dec 10, 3pm-4pm
Monday Dec 13, 3pm-4pm
Tuesday Dec 14, 3pm-4pm
Teaching Assistant: Paul Grabowski
237 Rockefeller Hall, tel. 56029
peg9@cornell.edu.
Office hours: Thursday 4.30-5.30pm and Friday 1.30-2.30pm.
Extra office hours: Wednesday Dec
8, 1pm-3pm
Tuesday Dec 14, 1pm-3pm
Course webpage: http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/~brouwer/p341.
Literature:
Statistical and Thermal Physics, F. Reif, Mc Graw Hill, 1965.
Entropy,
Order Parameters, and Complexity: A Broad View of Statistical Physics,
J. P. Sethna, Cornell University, 2004.
Additional or alternative literature:
Reasoning about Luck: Probability and its uses in Physics, V.
Ambegaokar, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Thermal Physics, R. Baierlein, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Theory of Thermodynamics, J. R. Waldram, Cambridge University
Press, 1985.
Elementary Principles of Statistical Mechanics, J. W. Gibbs,
Dover, 1960.
Statistical Mechanics: A concise introduction for Chemists,
B. Widom, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
These books are held on reserve in the Physical Sciences Library (Clark Hall).
Course syllabus and reading assignments
Homework:
Approximately 10 weekly homework assignments.
Homework is due on Mondays and will be handed back on the following
Thursday.
Prelims:
In class, October 6th and November 8th.
Final
exam: Wednesday, December 15, 3pm, 132 Rockefeller Hall.
Academic Integrity: Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. You are allowed to discuss the subject and the homework problems with others. However, you should write up the homework by yourself and acknowledge all sources.
Final grade based on homework (40%), two prelims (30%) and
final
examination (30%).