Statistical Mechanics

Prof. Leonard Susskind, Stanford University

Statistical mechanics is a branch of physics that applies probability theory to the study of the thermodynamic behavior of systems composed of a large number of particles. Statistical mechanics provides a framework for relating the microscopic properties of individual atoms and molecules to the macroscopic bulk properties of materials that can be observed in everyday life. Thus it explains thermodynamics as a result of the classical and quantum-mechanical descriptions of statistics and mechanics at the microscopic level.

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Topics covered

Entropy, Boltzmann Distribution, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Phase Transformation, Harmonic Oscillators, Conservation of Information, Ideal Gases

Course level

Advanced Undergraduate

Course material

7 lecture videos

1	Entropy and conservation of information	Watch lecture
2	Temperature	Watch lecture
3	Maximizing entropy	Watch lecture
4	The Boltzmann distribution	Watch lecture
5	Pressure of an ideal gas and fluctuations	Watch lecture
6	Weakly interacting gases, heat, and work	Watch lecture
7	Entropy vs. reversibility	Watch lecture

Suggested prerequisites

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Distribution license

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License