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<br>Statistical Mechanics I (Spring, 2016)
<br>Lecturer: Prof. Hsiu-Hau LIN
<br>Time: F6F7F8 (14:20-17:20) on Fridays
<br>Location: Room 019 in Physics Building
<br>Textbook: Statistical Mechanics by Pathria and Beale (third edition)
<br>You can download the e-textbook from NTHU Library!
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<br>Course description
<br>The course contents covered in Statistical Mechanics I is rather standard and I will try to follow 
<br>Pathria without too many detours :) The tentative plan is to finish the first nine chapters in the 
<br>textbook. The real beef of statistical mechanics can be found in the sibling course Statistical 
<br>Mechanics II with detail notes and homework problems.
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<br>Grades
<br>Midterm 1 (25%): 14:20-17:20 on March 27 (Sunday), Chapter 1-3
<br>Midterm 2 (25%): 14:20-17:20 on May 6 (Friday) Chapter 4-6
<br>Final (25%): 14:20-17:20 on June 17 (Friday) Chapter 7-9
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<br>Classroom Engagement (25%): Discussions and participations in class are encouraged and thus 
<br>counted as part of your overall grade for the course. In addition to the classroom interactions, 
<br>you are also encouraged to deliver the Pecha Kucha Talks -- 20 slides with 20 seconds each. 
<br>This activity is to encourage and highlight the importance of presentation skill. And, good 
<br>performance will earn you bonus points :)
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<br>Syllabus
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<br>Week 1 (Feb 19)
<br>Introduction
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<br>Week 2 (Feb 26)
<br>梅竹，不上課
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<br>Week 3 (Mar 4)
<br>Statistical basis of thermodynamics (Chap 1)
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<br>Week 4 (Mar 11)
<br>Microcanonical ensemble (Chap 2)
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<br>Week 5 (Mar 18)
<br>Canonical ensemble (Chap 3)
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<br>Week 6 (Mar 25)
<br>Canonical ensemble 2 (Chap 3)
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<br>14:20-17:20 on Mar 27
<br>Midterm 1 (Chap 1-3)
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<br>Week 7 (Apr 1)
<br>春假，不上課
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<br>Week 8 (Apr 8)
<br>Grand canonical ensemble (Chap 4)
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<br>Week 9 (Apr 15)
<br>Quantum statistics (Chap 5)
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<br>Week 10 (Apr 22)
<br>Simple gases (Chap 6)
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<br>Week 11 (Apr 29)
<br>Simple gases 2 (Chap 6)
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<br>Week 12 (May 6)
<br>Midterm 2 (Chap 4-6)
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<br>Week 13 (May 13)
<br>Bose gas (Chap 7)
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<br>Week 14 (May 20)
<br>Bose gas 2 (Chap 7)
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<br>Week 15 (May 27)
<br>Fermi gas (Chap 8)
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<br>Week 16 (June 3)
<br>Big Bang thermodynamics (Chap 9)
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<br>Week 17 (June 10)
<br>端午，不上課
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<br>Week 18 (June 17)
<br>Final (Chap 7-9)
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