8.08 Statistical Physics II
Spring 2012
Professor: Jeremy L. England, Leonid A Mirny
TA: Evelyn May Yin Tang
Lecture:
Wed, Fri 1p-2:30p
(26-322)
Recitation: Mon 1p-2p
(26-322)
Information:
This course will be divided into two halves. 1) Following a review of the construction of partition functions and thermodynamic potentials for the various statistical ensembles, the first half of the course will explore some of the most stunning successes of these formalisms in their application to both classical and quantum many‐body systems. Phase transitions and critical phenomena will be examined through the lens of Ising’s model of spontaneous magnetic order. In addition, a variety of intrinsically statistical phenomena in quantum mechanics (e.g. Bose‐Einstein condensation, Debye theory of vibrations in a solid, stability of white dwarf and neutron stars) will be considered. 2) The second half of the course will seek to provide a comprehensive introduction to those topics in statistical mechanics most essential for the study of the physics of biological systems. Using macromolecular interactions as a motivating theme, we will treat both equilibrium topics (e.g. polymers, hydrophobicity, charge screening, chemical reactions, force generation) and non-equilibrium topics (e.g. random walks and Markov processes, diffusion, Master equation, Fokker‐Planck equation, fluctuation‐dissipation relations). The aim will be to prepare the student to apply a rigorous physical analysis to any biomolecular process of interest.
Announcements
8.08
I really enjoyed teaching you! It was lots of fun and hope you developed some taste for Biophysics that we delicately sprinkled on top of Stat Mech. Those of you more interested in the subject can take 8.592 Statistical Physics in Biology (Kardar and Mirny) or HST.508 Quantitative Genomics (Mirny+). Good luck with the rest of your finals.Announced on 22 May 2012 1:38 p.m. by Leonid A Mirny
PS
I meant to mention in my last communication: please take the time to fill out a course evaluation if you haven't already.Announced on 22 May 2012 9:49 a.m. by Jeremy L. England
PS
I meant to mention in my last communication: please take the time to fill out a course evaluation if you haven't already.Announced on 22 May 2012 9:49 a.m. by Jeremy L. England
Grades and Evaluations
Congratulations on completing the course and thanks for all your hard work this semester. Evelyn and I graded the final yesterday and all assignments have been marked and entered into stellar. The final will not be handed back.To give people an idea of how letter grades are going to be derived from numerical weighted averages (40% psets with lowest dropped, 30% midterm, 30% final), the A range is >90 and B range is 70s - 80s. Out of 17 of you, three As were given, and two A-s.
Thanks again, I enjoyed the chance to teach you all.
Good luck on the rest of your exams and have a great summer.
jengland
Announced on 22 May 2012 9:46 a.m. by Jeremy L. England
Exam Format Detail
The final draft of the exam is now complete, so I can tell you the following:You will be given 180 minutes to work on the exam. There are five problems in the exam packet, and each problem will be worth the same number of points. You will be asked to designate four problems to have graded. No work that you have done on the fifth, undesignated problem will count towards your score.
jengland
Announced on 18 May 2012 1:26 p.m. by Jeremy L. England
