Learning Outcomes:
Understanding the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics and statistical physics, with the ability to understand, assess and solve problems in this important area of physics.
Indicative Module Content:
The first part of the module covers the basic topics of statistical mechanics, including the statistical definitions of temperature and entropy, the various ensembles, the partition function, Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics and Planck's law.
The second part of the module discusses the key concepts of thermodynamics, including the laws of thermodynamics, the various thermodynamic processes, potentials and Maxwell's relations.