Course Identification
Physics module: From classical to statistical mechanics through numerical examples
Lecturers and Teaching Assistants
Prof. Oren Raz
Aaron Rafael Liberman, Roi Holtzman
Course Schedule and Location
Second Semester
Tuesday, 09:15 - 12:00
02/03/2021
Field of Study, Course Type and Credit Points
Science Teaching (non thesis MSc Track): Lecture; Obligatory; Regular; 4.00 points
Attendance and participation
Scheduled date 1
13/07/2021
Scheduled date 2
27/07/2021
Estimated Weekly Independent Workload (in hours)
Syllabus
Much of the course will be taught through numerical simulations -- you will need a computer in class.
- Simulating a particle in a box - billiards.
- Strange Billiards: chaotic trajectories and the Lypunov exponent.
- From a single particle to simulating a gas of discs in a box.
- From N particles to velocity distribution: the Boltzmann distribution (and maybe the Boltzmann equations).
- A system and reservoir: the canonical ensemble.
- The thermodynamic quantities of a gas in a box: temperature, volume, pressure, density.
- Equation of state for ideal gas.
- Gas with interaction: the Van-der-Waals equation of state.
- Phase transitions in the van-der-Waals gas.
- From gas in a box to heat engines: simulations.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to connect, through numerical example, what we teach in classical mechanics and the thermodynamic concepts relevant to simple gasses.