3.5 ECTS — Semester 1 — Fundamentals
Advanced statistical physics deals with the study of complex systems consisting of a large number of interacting particles. It goes beyond basic statistical mechanics to explore more intricate phenomena such as phase transitions, critical behaviour, fluctuations, and non-equilibrium processes. This field delves into the behavior of matter at the microscopic level and aims to understand how these individual interactions give rise to macroscopic properties observed in various physical systems.
Syllabus
This course on Advanced Statistical Physics provides an overview of the theory of phase transitions, be they continuous or discontinuous. Mean-field approaches of the Landau family will be introduced, together with renormalisation group techniques.
Suggested bibliography
- R. Balian, From Microphysics to Macrophysics, Springer.
- J.-L. Barrat and J.-P. Hansen, Basic Concepts for Simple and Complex Liquids, CUP.
Prerequisites
- This course requires basic knowledge of Probability Theory (elementary laws generating functions, central limit theorem etc), Statistical Physics (see e.g. D. Chandler, Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics, or B. Diu et al, Statistical Physics), Quantum Mechanics (typically the content of the main chapters of the book Quantum Mechanics – Volumes 1 & 2 – by C. Cohen-Tannoudji et al.) and basic notions of Special Relativity.