CHM 421/621 Statistical Mechanics

Instructor: Dr. Varadharajan Srinivasan(Room AB-2 225)

Office Hours: T.B.A.

Email: vardha [at] iiserb . ac .in

TA: Rashid Valappil

Email: rashid20 [at] iiserb . ac . in

TA: Yogesh Verma

Email: yogeshverma [at] iiserb . ac . in

Lectures: Tue, Thu and Fri (3-3:55 pm) in L-7 (LHC)


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is a compulsory course for 4th year BS-MS major, integrated Ph.D. stduents and is an elective for Ph.D. students in the Chemistry department. It is an open elective for 4th and upper year students from other departments meeting the pre- requisites below. Statistical mechanics is a theoretical framework that allows establishing a bridge between the microscopic world and the behavior of macroscopic material which is amenable to experiment. The main objective of this course is to develop an understanding of the statistical nature of the laws of thermodynamics and calculate the physical properties of systems starting from the interactions between the constituent particles. We will discuss the basic principles of statistical mechanics and its applications to various physical and chemical processes in many-body systems.

Prerequisites: CHM 222, CHM 322 (or CHM 428), CHM 325

Text Books:

  1. Callen, H. B., Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, Ed. 2nd, Wiley, 1985.
  2. McQuarrie, D. A., Statistical Mechanics, University Science Books, 2000.
  3. Jackson, E. A., Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics, Dover Publications, 2000
  4. Chandler, D., Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics, Oxford University Press, 1987
  5. Widom B., Statistical Mechanics: A Concise Introduction for Chemists, Cambridge University Press, 2002


COURSE ASSESSMENT

This course will feature assignments (10%), 2 quizzes (10%), a mid-semester exam (30%) and an end-semester exam (50%).


TUTORIALS

None


ANNOUNCEMENTS

[01.08.2023]   Welcome Back!

[02.08.2023]   Lectures 1 and 2 uploaded.

[10.08.2023]   Lectures 3 uploaded.

[11.08.2023]   Lectures 4 and 5 uploaded.

[18.08.2023]   Lectures 6 and 7 uploaded.

[21.08.2023]   Assignment 1 uploaded. Due in class on 29/8/2023.

[23.08.2023]   Lecture 8 uploaded.

[25.08.2023]   Lecture 9 uploaded.

[26.08.2023]   Lecture 10 uploaded.

[30.08.2023]   Lecture 11 uploaded.

[02.09.2023]   Lecture 12 and 13 uploaded.

[05.09.2023]   Lecture 14 uploaded.

[09.09.2023]   Lecture 15 uploaded.

[15.09.2023]   Lecture 16 uploaded.

[16.09.2023]   Lecture 17 uploaded.

[26.09.2023]   Lecture 18 uploaded.

[05.10.2023]   Lecture 19 uploaded.

[05.10.2023]   Lecture 20 uploaded.

[07.10.2023]   Lecture 21 uploaded.

[07.10.2023]   Lecture 22 uploaded.

[15.10.2023]   Lecture 23 uploaded.

[15.10.2023]   Assignment 3 uploaded.

[18.10.2023]   Lecture 24 uploaded.

[20.10.2023]   Lecture 25 uploaded.

[21.10.2023]   Lecture 26 uploaded.

[03.11.2023]   Lecture 27 uploaded.

[03.11.2023]   Lecture 28 uploaded.

[08.11.2023]   Lecture 29 uploaded.

[08.11.2023]   Lecture 30 uploaded.

[10.11.2023]   Lecture 31 uploaded.

[12.11.2023]   Assignment 4 uploaded here. Uploaded on classroom page on 10/11/2023.

[14.11.2023]   Lecture 32 uploaded.

[16.11.2023]   A practice problem set uploaded on Assignments page.