Syllabus

Download a full course syllabus here.

Course Description

Thermal physics is a thrilling intersection of physical and mathematical ideas with real world applications. These applications span biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, environmental science, engineering, low-temperature and solid state physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and quantum gravity. Whatever path you choose in life, understanding thermal physics will enrich the experiences of every day. Better yet, non-equilibrium thermal physics is so full of mysteries that many seekers of Nature will spend their lives exploring this rich landscape.

Thermal physics deals with large collections of particles—typically 10²³ or so. Examples include the air in a balloon, the water in a lake, the electrons in a chunk of metal, and the photons (electromagnetic wave packets) given off by the sun. Anything big enough to see with our eyes’ (or even a microscope) has enough particles in it to qualify as a subject of thermal physics. We can’t possibly follow every detail of the motions of all these particles. So instead, in thermal physics, we assume that the particles jostle about randomly, and we use the laws of probability to predict how, for example, a chunk of metal as a whole ought to behave. Alternatively, we can measure the bulk properties of the metal (stiffness, conductivity, heat capacity, magnetization, and so on), and from these infer something about the particles of which it is made.

Some properties of bulk matter do not depend on the microscopic details of atomic physics. Heat always flows spontaneously from an hot object to a cold one, never the other way. Liquids boil more readily at lower pressure. The maximum possible efficiency of an engine, working over a given temperature range, is the same whether the engine uses steam or air or anything else. These kinds of results, and the principles that generalize them, comprise thermodynamics.

To understand matter in more detail, we must also take into account both the quantum behavior of atoms and the laws of statistics that make the connection between one atom and 10²³ atoms. Thus, we can predict not only the properties of metals and other materials, but also explain why the principles of thermodynamics are what they are—why heat flows from hot to cold, for example. This underlying explanation of thermodynamics, and the many applications that come along with it, comprise statistical mechanics.

Our course will strive to demonstrate the unity of these perspectives.