PHYS 873

As part of basic training of graduate students, this core course aims to reinforce the student's understanding of the fundamental concepts and techniques of statistical mechanics, and to advance the student's general knowledge of phase transitions and critical phenomena. The course will not only broaden the student's general knowledge of statistical physics, but will also expose the student to a variety of current research topics. In this course, three basic ensembles (microcanonical, canonical, grandcanonical) are first reviewed for both classical and quantum-mechanical statistical mechanics, and the classical limit of ideal gas is discussed. The quantum-mechanical collective phenomena in Fermi and Bose systems are examined. Finally, the techniques for analysing quantum critical phenomena and the Landau theory of phase transition are studied in detail, along with their applications to various physical systems.