This graduate course discusses topics in advanced statistical physics, first revisiting the postulates and then turning to ideal and interacting systems, phase transitions, and fluctuations and elements of non-equilibrium statistical physics. Given that some of the material is covered in courses in advanced quantum mechanics and solid state physics, the main emphasis is on classical statistical physics.

The course consists of lectures (3 hours per week) and tutorials (2 hours per week). The students work out and present 1 homework assignment (typically a technically more involved example). The grade is dual and includes the exam and the term paper grade. Students may take the exam after they have handed in and presented the term paper.

References: The course is based primarily on Pathria and Beale's textbook [1] but in also includes some chapters not covered in this reference. Here is a list of suggested references:

[1] R. K. Pathria and P. D. Beale, Statistical Mechanics 3rd Ed. (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2011).

[2] C. N. Likos, Colloidal Interactions: From Effective Potentials to Structure, in C. Bechinger, F. Sciortino, and P. Ziherl (eds.), Physics of Complex Colloids (Societa Italiana di Fisica, Bologna, 2013).

[3]C. Van Vliet, Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics (World Scientific, Singapore, 2008).

[4] M. Plischke and B. Bergersen, Equilibrium Statistical Physics (World Scientific, Singapore, 2005).

[5] L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Statistical Physics (Butterworth Heinemann, Amsterdam, 1980).

[6] F. Schwabl, Statistical Mechanics (Springer, Berlin, 2002).

[7] U. Seifert, Rep. Prog. Phys. 75, 126001 (2012).

[8] C. Van den Broeck, Stochastic Thermodynamics: A Brief Overview, in C. Bechinger, F. Sciortino, and P. Ziherl (eds.), Physics of Complex Colloids (Societa Italiana di Fisica, Bologna, 2013).

The 2015/16 course outline is available here. Here is a preliminary version of the lecture notes. Should you find any errors or misprints please do let me know.

Teaching assistant is Gregor Skacej.