Thomas Vojta, office: 103 Physics, phone: 341-4793, email: vojtat@mst.edu
9:30 to 10:45am Tuesday and Thursday, Room: Physics 127
Monday 2:00 to 3:00pm
Thermal Physics (Physics 4311) and Physics 6201 (Quantum Mechanics I)
David Chandler, Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics (Oxford, 1987)
Mehran Kardar, Statistical Physics of Particles (Cambridge, 2007)
The course will not always follow these books. Class attendance is crucial.
K. Huang, Statistical Mechanics
L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Statistical Physics I
M. Plischke and B. Bergersen, Equilibrium Statistical Physics
L. E. Reichl, A Modern Course in Statistical Physics
R. K. Pathria, Statistical Mechanics
Homework assignments will be given in class on Tuesday and also posted on the WWW. Assignments are due the following Tuesday as pdf uploads in Canvas. Each assignment will be worth 40 points, and your 10 highest scores will count towards the grade. Thus, a total of 400 points may be earned from the homework.
Discussions among colleagues is allowed and encouraged. However, the solutions you hand in should represent your effort and thinking and not that of a group. You should document the intermediate steps of your solution (partial credit will be given) and list any reference material which you directly use.
In addition to the homework you will work on one larger project in the second half of the semester. You will be able to choose from several topics (computer simulations, in-class talks). The project will be worth 100 points.
You may use AI systems such as ChatGPT as tools to help you research, but you need to examine all information critically. AIs are known to hallucinate and give incorrect information. You are responsible for making sure the information you present in your assignment is correct, and you need to document all your sources, including AI systems. Having AI write your homework solutions or project report is not acceptable as it misses the learning objective of the assignments.
There will be a midsemester test counting 200 points and a comprehensive final exam counting 300 points. The midsemester test will be given on Thursday, October 16 during class, and the final exam will be on Friday, December 19, 10am to noon.
Course grade will be based on the total number of points earned on the homework, test and exam, expressed as a percentage of the total number of points available (1000). The relation between performance and grade will be the standard one: . The boundaries between the grades may be revised downwards (i.e., to the students benefit) depending upon the judgement of the instructor, but will not be revised upwards.
It is hoped that any problems can be resolved through discussions between student and instructor. If there are any complaints that cannot be resolved you may contact Dr. Dan Reardon, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (reardond@mst.edu).
Further university information and rules can be found on the webpage
https://aae.mst.edu/resources/facultyresources/syllabusinformation/