Statistical Mechanics

3.0 credits · Graduate

Introduces the fundamentals of statistical mechanics: ensembles, distributions, averages, and fluctuations, building to the treatment of systems of interacting molecules. Topics from equilibrium statistical mechanics include structure and thermodynamics of molecular liquids, critical phenomena, and computational statistical mechanics. Topics from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics include spectroscopy, chemical kinetics, transport, and the microscopic origins of irreversibility.