3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This course will present the basic principles of statistical mechanics and apply them to problems concerning the behavior of materials. Topics include: basic principles of statistical mechanics; time averages and ensembles; connection to macroscopic thermodynamics; fluctuations; classical and quantum particles statistics; lattice statistics; statistical thermodynamic models of gases, liquids, crystals, crystalline defects, linear chain polymers, and surfaces; phase transitions and critical phenomena; kinetic and transport phenomena; thermodynamics of irreversible processes. Recommended Course Background: EN.510.312 or undergraduate course in thermodynamics. Also listed as EN.510.613