Physics Lecture Notes Statistical Mechanics

The purpose of thermodynamics is to describe the properties of various macroscopic systems at, or near, equilibrium. This is done with the help of several state variables, such as the internal energy E, the volume V , the pressure P, the number of particles N, the temperature T, the entropy S, the chemical potential µ, and others. These state variables depend only on what the state of the system is, and not on how the system was brought to that state. The variables are not all independent, and thermodynamics provides general relations among them. Some of these relations are not specific to particular systems, but are valid for all macroscopic systems.

Over the past few decades the powerful methods of statistical physics and Euclidean quantum field theory have moved closer together, with common tools based on the use of path integrals.

This textbook teaches classical mechanics as one of the foundations of physics. It describes the mechanical stability and motion in physical systems ranging from the molecular to the galactic scale. Aside from the standard topics of mechanics in the physics curriculum, this book includes an introduction to the theory of elasticity and its use in selected modern engineering applications, e.g.

Statistical Mechanics: Problems with Solutions contains detailed model solutions to the exerciseproblems formulated in the companion Lecture Notes volume. In many cases, thesolutions include result discussions that enhance the lecture material. Forreader's convenience, the problem assignments are reproduced in this volume.