1. Energy and temperature; ideal gas; equipartition; the First Law; heat capacity.
2. Entropy and the Second Law. Statistics of two-state system, Einstein solid model and multiplicity of an ideal gas; statistical definition of entropy.
3. Temperature, pressure, and chemical potential. Entropy and heat; heat capacity revisited; examples: paramagnet, Einstein solid, and ideal gas (microcanonical ensemble).
4. Engines and Refrigerators. Carnot cycle; limits on efficiency from the laws of thermodynamics; example: methods of reaching very low temperatures.
5. Free Energy and Thermodynamics. Definitions and interpretations of Helmholtz and Gibbs free energies; phase transformations.
6. Boltzmann Statistics. Boltzmann factor and partition function; examples: atomic and molecular excitations, paramagnetism, equipartition theorem revisited, Maxwell distribution, ideal gases.
7. Quantum Statistics. Gibbs factor; Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions; degenerate electron gases; blackbody radiation; Debye theory; Bose-Einstein condensation.
8. Advanced topics (as time permits): kinetics, second order phase transitions, entropy and information.
Problem sets (mostly weekly): 40 %
Midterm exam: 20 %
Final exam: 40 %