Physics 421 — Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics

Emory University · Fall 2026

Course Information

Instructor Tankut Can
Email tcan @ emory.edu
Office MSC N242
Office Hour M 1 - 2pm, MSC 242
Meetings MW 11:30 - 12:45pm, Tarbutton Hall 218
Textbook Schroeder, An Introduction to Thermal Physics

Description

This course is an introduction to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, and will cover: laws of thermodynamics, entropy, Carnot engine, thermodynamic potentials, free energies and phase transitions, Boltzmann distribution, classical and quantum statistics, Fermi gas, Bose-Einstein condensation

Course Format

The course will be a mix of problem-solving and traditional lecturing. Lectures typically make you feel like you understand, but problem-solving is a truer test of understanding. We will work through a lot of problems in class.

Homework and Exams

Homework will be graded only for completion (i.e. full credit for turning it in). However, the exams will be largely based on the homework. Therefore, the best way to prepare for the exams is to do all of the homework yourself.

Quizzes

In the beginning of every class, there will be a brief quiz about the reading assignment. These will be simple, mostly conceptual questions, and are meant to encourage reading before class.

Prerequisites

The formal prerequisites are Physics 220 (Math Methods) and Physics 253 (Modern Physics). Some basic concepts from quantum mechanics are necessary to make sense of statistical mechanics. Also, multivariable calculus is essential for understanding thermodynamic relations. Counting is also important in statistical mechanics, but not a prerequisite. We will learn advanced counting techniques as they are needed.

Grading

Variable Component Weight (%)
A Problem sets 10
B Quizzes 10
C Exam 1 20
D Exam 2 20
E Final 40

The final grade will be {\rm max}(A + B + C + D+E, (C + D + E)/80). In other words, A and B can only help.

Policies

Accessibility. Students with documented disabilities should contact the Department of Accessibility Services (DAS) as early as possible so that accommodations can be arranged.

Academic integrity. Work submitted in this course is governed by the Emory Honor Code.

Schedule

I will regularly update the calendar with lecture notes and reading assignments. The sequence of topics is not set in stone, so there might be some adjustments as the semester progresses.

Week Date Topic Reading Problems Notes
1 W Aug 26 Overview, Equilibrium, Temperature, Micro/Macro 1.1 Lecture 1
2 M Aug 31 Ideal gas, equipartition (travel) 1.1 - 1.3 1.16,1.22,1.26,1.27,1.29, 1.30 Lecture 2
2 W Sep 2 Heat, Work, First Law (travel) 1.4 - 1.5 1.31,1.34,1.38,1.39 Lecture 3
3 M Sep 7 No class — Labor Day
3 W Sep 9 PV diagrams, Heat Capacity 1.1 - 1.6 1.41,1.44,1.45,1.46 Lecture 4
4 M Sep 14 Second Law, Statistical Mechanics 2.1 - 2.3 2.2, 2.4, 2.7, 2.8. 2.11 Lecture 5
4 W Sep 16 Large systems, combinatorics 2.4 - 2.6 2.12, 2.17, 2.19, 2.23, 2.24, 2.25 Lecture 6
5 M Sep 21 Entropy, Ideal gas law 2.4 - 2.6 2.34, 2.35, 2.36, 2.41, 2.42 Lecture 7
5 W Sep 23 Temperature, entropy, and heat 3.1 - 3.2 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.8, 3.9, 3.12, 3.16 Lecture 8
6 M Sep 28 Thermodynamic identity 3.3 - 3.4 3.19, 3.25, 3.27, 3.33, 3.34 Lecture 9
6 W Sep 30 Thermodynamic relations 3.5 - 3.6 3.36, 3.37, 3.39 Lecture 10
7 M Oct 5 Cycles, Heat, Work, 2nd Law 4.1 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6
7 W Oct 7 Review Ch. 1 - 3
8 M Oct 12 No class - Fall Break
8 W Oct 14 Exam 1
9 M Oct 19 Carnot Cycle, Engines and Fridges 4.2 - 4.3 4.7, 4.8, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.21
9 W Oct 21 Thermodynamic Potentials 5.1-5.2 5.8, 5.12, 5.14, 5.17, 5.18, 5.19, 5.21, 5.23
10 M Oct 26 Phase transitions, PT diagrams 5.3 5.20, 5.30, 5.31, 5.33, 5.43
10 W Oct 28 Phase transitions, PT diagrams 5.3
11 M Nov 2 Boltzmann distribution 6.1-6.2 6.16, 6.17, 6.18, 6.19, 6.20, 6.22
11 W Nov 4 Boltzmann distribution 6.3-6.4 6.31, 6.35, 6.38, 6.41
12 M Nov 9 Partition Functions and Free Energy 6.5-6.6 6.42, 6.43, 6.44
12 W Nov 11 Ideal Gas Law from Stat Mech 6.7 6.45, 6.51, 6.52
13 M Nov 16 Review Ch. 4-6
13 W Nov 18 Exam 2
14 M Nov 23 Bosons and Fermions 7.1 - 7.2 7.3, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.12
14 W Nov 25 No class — Thanksgiving —
15 M Nov 30 Bosons and Fermions 7.1 - 7.2
15 W Dec 2 Fermi Gases 7.3 7.16, 7.17, 7.20, 7.23, 7.27, 7.28
16 M Dec 7 Blackbody Radiation 7.4 7.37, 7.43, 7.44, 7.45, 7.53, 7.54
16 W Dec 9 Bose-Einstein Condensation 7.5 - 7.6 7.72, 7.74
M Dec 14 Final Exam 11:30am - 2pm

Extra Homework Problems

For your homework, you can also choose from the following set of additional problems, which I will keep adding to as the semester progresses. These are problems I used on past exams.

Additional Problems

Lecture Notes

Caution: lecture notes are not proofread, and may contain errors. If you think you spot an error, please let me know!

All lecture notes

Simulation Notebooks

I will upload links to notebooks below:

Spin Exchange Thermalization This is the thermalizing spin chain that I discussed in class (see Lecture 6). Make sure to open it with Google Colab. This link gives you viewer access. If you want to make edits and play around with the code, you can download a copy and work on that.

References

For problems and lectures, I will draw from many resources. If something doesn’t make sense in one book, it might make sense in another. I recommend looking around. Almost all of the textbooks and notes are freely available online (just google “author + title + pdf”):