Physics 212 -- Statistical Mechanics

Physics 212 was a one-quarter graduate-level course in Statistical Mechanics, given by Michael Peskin in the Spring 2010 term at Stanford University.

The textbook for the course was Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity, by James Sethna. Sethna's course is exceptionally well designed, but it is pitched at a level somewhat below the level of this course. For theory students who would like a more high-powered text, I recommend the 2-volume set by Kardar, Statistical Physics of Particles and Statistical Physics of Fields. However, the classic and still champion book on Statistical Mechanics is that of Landau and Lifshitz. Other useful references are listed at the bottom of this page.

Syllabus and lecture notes for Physics 212.

Problem sets for Physics 212:

Problem Set 1 (due April 8); solutions.
Problem Set 2 (due April 15); solutions.
- JAVA visualizer for random walks. A PYTHON visualizer can be found under the "hints" at Sethna's web site.
Problem Set 3 (due April 22); solutions.
Problem Set 4 (due April 29); solutions.
Problem Set 5 (due May 6); solutions.
Problem Set 6 (due May 13); solutions.
- JAVA visualizer for the 2d Ising model. A PYTHON visualizer can be found under the "hints" at Sethna's web site.
Problem Set 7 (due May 20); solutions.
Problem Set 8 (due May 27); solutions.
Problem Set 9 (due June 1); solutions.

Final exams for Physics 212: