2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

PHYS3445 Advanced Classical and Statistical Mechanics

15 creditsClass Size: 80

Module manager: Dr S A Harris
Email: s.a.harris@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

Module replaces

PHYS 3440 Statistical MechanicsPHYS 3510 Advanced Mechanics

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Objectives

Classical Mechaanics

By the end of the module students will be familiar with the structure of classical mechanics, and be able to apply the methods of Newtonian, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism to various systems. The student will also gain an understanding of the role of symmetry and conservation laws, and the relation between classical and quantum mechanics. Finally, the students will gain an understanding of the role of tensors including the moment of inertia tensor.

Statistical Mechanics

Upon completion of this module the student should be able to:

- Define and calculate the partition function for simple non-interacting systems.
- Calculate averages of quantities for non-interacting statistical systems.
- Describe and use the microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles.
- Use the Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distribution functions to calculate thermodynamic quantities.

Skills outcomes
Logical thought.
Problem solving.

Syllabus

Classical Mechanics

Rigid body rotations, Euler angles, moment of inertia tensor.
Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, generalised coordinates, constrained systems and Lagrange multipliers.
Variational methods.
Symmetry and conservation laws.

Statistical Mechanics

1. Statistics and large systems, classical and quantum phase space, ergodicity.
2. Ensembles (microcanonical, canonical, grand canonical), Boltzmann and Gibbs distributions, entropy. Examples from magnets, electron gas and black-body radiation.
3. Interacting systems. Liquids, Debye theory of heat capacity.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	33	1.00	33.00
Private study hours			117.00
Total Contact hours			33.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Study: 105 hours;
Self-study examples: 12 hours.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Self-study examples sheets with worked example sheets to follow.

Methods of assessment

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 30 mins	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 08/04/2015

Disclaimer

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