Prof. Dr. Roland Netz: rnetz@physik.fu-berlin.de

Tutors:

Bernhard Mitterwallner: bmitt@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Laura Lavacchi: lauraluna@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Shane Carlson: shane.carlson@fu-berlin.de

Sina Zendehroud: sina.zendehroud@fu-berlin.de

Cihan Ayaz: cihan.ayaz@fu-berlin.de

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the lectures will be uploaded as online videos and pdfs, a script is available. The tutorials will take place as online conferences via Webex. By now, you should have received an email from the university with instructions on how to get and use Webex.

You can find the lecture videos and pdfs under "Resources". These files will be made available before Tuesday 10:00 and Fridays 8:00, so you can watch the videos during the lecture time. The file names of the lectures are numbered in sequential order.

Lecture Times:

Tuesdays from 11:30 to 12:00, Prof. Netz will give online consultations on the lecture via Webex, where you will have the opportunity to ask him questions on the uploaded lecture videos.

You can join Prof Netz by clicking here on Tuesdays between 11:30 and 12:00. 

You can take part in the tutorials in a similar way by clicking on the corresponding link below within the given time window.

Tutorial Times:

Please join one of the tutorials via Section Info.

You can take part in the tutorials via Webex with the following links:

1. Go to Shane's tutorial (Tue, 12-14)

2. Go to Sina's tutorial (Tue, 16-18)

3. Go to Laura/Bernhard's tutorial (Fri, 10-12)

Exams

To pass the course, you have to pass the exam on the one hand, and on the other hand, you have to have 50% of the total points in the problem sets. You can take part in the exam even if you have not achieved 50% of the total points in the problem sets in this term, but this is not recommended because the problem sets ideally prepare you for the exam.

You can find your current number of points in section Gradebook.

1st Exam: Date: August 17, 2020, Time: 10 am - 12 pm, Location: Mensa FU II, Otto-von-Simson-Straße 26, 14195 Berlin.

2nd Exam: Date: October 30, 2020, Time: 10 am - 12 pm, Location: BoB (former library) on the ground floor of the 3rd wing in Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin.

If for whatever reasons you cannot take part in the first exam please send Roland Netz an Email. We will schedule a second exam in order to make the attendance of all of you possible. There is also the possibility to schedule a third exam for those of you who have missed the first exam because of corona-related reasons.

Problem Sets

You can find the problem sets in section Assignments. Problem sets will be made available on Sundays and have to be handed in the following Sunday. The solutions will be discussed in the tutorials the following week. In the week of April 20 the zeroth problem set, which you do not have to hand in, will be discussed. The first problem set will be discussed in the week of April 27.

Please submit your solutions as one pdf file under Assignments. Please only submit readable solutions. Otherwise, we will not grade your solution.

Content

In the lecture, the following topics will be covered:

- equilibrium ensembles 

- thermodynamics: thermodynamic potentials, laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamic cycles

- ideal quantum gases

- phase transitions 

- interacting systems 

- introduction to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics

Recommended Literature: 

R.K. Pathria, Statistical Mechanics (Butterworth Heinemann 1996) 

F. Schwabl, Statistical Mechanics (2nd ed., Springer 2006) 

F. Reif, Fundamentals of statistical and thermal physics (McGraw-Hill 1965) 

W. Nolting, Grundkurs Theoretische Physik 6: Statistische Physik (Springer 2005)

You can find the script for the lecture in section Resources.