Statistical mechanics

Basic knowledge of concepts, approaches and methods of Statistical Mechanics with the special attention to Solid State Physics topics.

Enrollment into the current study year. For the exchange students, meeting of the course prerequisites will be checked by the Study committee of the School of Science.

1. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICAL PHYSICS
   Statistical distributions; Statistical independence; Liouville's theorem; Significance of energy; Entropy; The law of increase of entropy. 4hrs

2. THERMODYNAMIC QUANTITIES
   Temperature; Adiabatic processes; Pressure; Work and quantity of heat; The heat function; The free energy and the thermodynamic potential; The thermodynamic scale of temperature; Nernst's theorem; The dependence of the thermodynamic quantities on the number of particles; Equilibrium of a body in an external field. 6hrs

3. THE GIBBS DISTRIBUTION AND IDEAL GASES
   The Gibbs distribution; The Maxwellian distribution; The free energy in the Gibbs distribution; The Gibbs distribution for a variable number of particles. The Boltzmann distribution; The Boltzmann distribution in classical statistics; The free energy of an ideal Boltzmann gas; The equation of state of an ideal gas; Ideal gases with constant specific heat; The law of equipartition; Monatomic ideal gases.8hrs

4. THE FERMI AND BOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
   The Fermi distribution; The Bose distribution; Fermi and Bose gases of elementary particles; A degenerate electron gas; The specific heat of a degenerate electron gas; A degenerate Bose gas; Black-body radiation.6hrs

5. PHASE EQUILIBRIUM AND PHASE TRANSITIONS
   Conditions of phase equilibrium. The Clapeyron-Clausius formula. The critical point and the law of corresponding state (on the example of van der Waals formula).
   Classification of phase transitions. Critical phenomena and Landau theory. 6hrs

6. SOLUTIONS
   Systems containing different particles. The phase rule. Weak solutions. Osmotic pressure. Solvent phases in contact. Equilibrium with respect to the solute. Heat and volume changes at dissolution. Mixtures of ideal gases. Vapour pressure over concentrated solutions. 6 hrs

7. CHEMICAL REACTIONS
   The condition for chemical equilibrium. The law of mass action. Heat of reaction. 4 hrs

Ability to describe and analyze the behavior of statistical systems, using general principles of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics.

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz: Statistical Physics (Third Edition, Part 1: Volume 5 (Course of Theoretical Physics, Volume 5, first printed 1980, reprinted 1982,1985, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005). Catalogue E-version
• K. Huang, Statistical mechanics. New York: Wiley (1987). Catalogue E-version
• R. Kubo, N. Saito and M. Toda: Statistical Physics I: Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics. Springer Series of Solid-State Sciences (1998).Catalogue

• oral exam

Dr. Artem Badasyan je izredni profesor za področje fizike na Univerzi v Novi Gorici. Dr. Artem Badasyan is associate professor of physics at the University of Nova Gorica.

Izbrane publikacije / selected publications:

1. BADASYAN, Artem, TONOYAN, Sh. A., VALANT, Matjaž, GRDADOLNIK, Jože. Implicit water model within the Zimm-Bragg approach to analyze experimental data for heat and cold denaturation of proteins. Communications chemistry. 2021, vol. 4, str. 1-8, ilustr. ISSN 2399-3669. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-021- 00499-x

2. BADASYAN, Artem, VALANT, Matjaž, GRDADOLNIK, Jože, UVERSKY, Vladimir N. The finite size effects and two-state paradigm of protein folding. International journal of molecular sciences. Feb. 2021, vol. 22, iss. 4, str. 1-7, ilustr. ISSN 1422-0067. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/4/2184

3. BADASYAN, Artem. System size dependence in the Zimm-Bragg model : partition function limits, transition temperature and interval. Polymers. 2021, vol. 13, iss. 12, str. 1-11, ilustr. ISSN 2073-4360. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/12/1985

4. TONOYAN, Sh. A., KHECHOYAN, Davit, MAMASAKHLISOV, Yevgeni S., BADASYAN, Artem.
   Statistical mechanics of DNA-nanotube adsorption. Physical review. E. Jun. 2020, vol. 101, iss. 6, str. 062422-1- 062422-5, ilustr. ISSN 2470-0045. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.101.062422.

5. PEZHUMKATTIL PALAKKAL, Jasnamol, VALANT, Matjaž, BADASYAN, Artem, et al. Unusual magnetodielectric effects in La2CuMnO6 induced by a dynamic crossover in dielectric relaxation at TC. Materials research bulletin. [Print ed.]. Apr. 2018, vol. 100, str. 226-233, ilustr. ISSN 0025-5408. DOI: 10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.12.027.