Some Web sites of interest and relevance to Physics 404

Fall 2014

Checked for (and fixed many) broken links on Aug. 25, 2014; please inform instructor of any that were missed!

Schroeder's site for An Introduction to Thermal Physics:

List of important equations

Corrections to text

Simulations:

Java Simulations for Statistical and Thermal Physics from Gould and Tobochnik's excellent curriculum development

General references:

Dealing with Java security settings (on physlet, but generalizable)

Mathworld

Wikipedia: thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, ...

Compendium of sites for Stat Mech & Thermo, also Nano, Quantum

Hyperphysics subsite on Heat & Thermodynamics: lots of nice calculational modules

Chap. 1

Heat capacity (wikipedia)

Thermodynamic equilibrium

Clear, succinct, elementary discussion of thermal expansion

Coefficients of linear expansion of the elements

Cute applet about heat capacity

Chap. 2, probability:

Permutations and combinations, elementary review and alternative, with binomial coefficients

Combinations (wikipedia, terse)

Barebones coin flipper

Binomial distribution applet

Binomial and normal distributions, from Rice U.

Stirling's approximation (wikipedia)

Applets for 2-level system and rotating dimer (scroll down past formalism!)

Chap. 2-3, entropy:

Applet of bouncing ball and entropy

Extensive, non-technical discussion of entropy

Long discussion of entropy claiming to clarify common misconceptions

Discussion of entropy

Doug Craigen's thought-provoking comments: Entropy and Evolution and Later Summary Notes

Heat flow

Diffusion and random walk applets and much fancier diffusion simulation

Chap. 4, Heat Engines:

Carnot cycle try different values of γ = Cp/Cv

Refrigeration cycle, qualitative

Thermodynamics of refrigeration, with T-S diagrams

Slide show on refrigeration , more than you likely want to know, but the first few are germane

Otto cycle-car engine, animated

Diesel engine, animated

Otto and Diesel with animated p-V diagram excellent illustration!

Otto cycle on YouTube: comparison of theoretical/idea and practical/actual

Similarly, Diesel cycle on YouTube

Graphical and formal analyses of Otto and Diesel engines, more detailed than you want but nice graph and important conclusion

Graphical analyses of Otto and Diesel engines,again more detailed than you want, with more graphs and less math

Otto cycle with p-V diagram, re Wright brothers

Two-stroke engine, animated .

Wankel engine, animated

Latest developments re Wankel: Mazda RX-7&8 New variant by GoTek

By popular request:

Stirling engine, animated

Readable account of Stirling engines at How Stuff Works

Movie of a Stirling engine

Lattice Vibrations:

Phonon dispersion and display of TA and TO modes in 1D (excellent java app)

Phonon dispersion in various crystals

Phonon density of states via "debye"

Equilibration of Einstein solids

Conductivity & transport:

Random walk simulation

1D random walk and applications to semiconductor junctions

Chap. 5, Chemistry:

Thorough gentle discussion of phase diagrams

Concise discussion of phase diagrams

Phase diagram of ice: semilog plot with details of ice phases

Helium 4 phase diagram and discussion (pdf)

Chemical equilibrium

Chap. 6, Classical Statistical Mechanics :

Maxwell 2D speed distribution, basic

Maxwell 2D speed distribution, fancier

Maxwell 2D speed distribution, nice balance

Maxwell 3D speed distribution

Chap. 7, Radiation:

Black body spectrum, inc. total emitted power

Black body radiation spectrum

Stellar spectra

Fowler discussion of blackbody radiation

Cute applet on Einstein A & B coefficients

Chap. 7, Fermi gases:

Fermi distribution: temperature dependence

Fermi surfaces of actual metals

Chap. 7, Phonons:

Phonons (1D, longitudinal) also shows real dispersion, crystal momentum

Phonon applet (1D, 2-atom basis, transverse)

1D chain showing dispersion relation plus lots of other stuff not germane to this class

Crystal modes of vibration

Debye model (similar to Schroeder's treatment)

Lecture on Debye model (S. Sweeney, U. of Surrey, UK, solid state class at PHYS404 level)

Dispersion for 3D fcc lattice with nearest-neighbor spring coupling--see last page (NB: German text)

Einstein and Debye model heat capacity (C) and DOS

Chap. 7, Bose-Einstein condensation and liquid helium II:

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid, lambda transition

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid, Segment 1 of 6

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid, Segment 2 of 6

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid Segment 3 of 6: zero viscosity

Liquid Helium II the superfluid (Segment 4: The fountain effect)

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid, Segment 5 of 6: superfluid creep and second sound

Liquid Helium II, Superfluid, Segment 6 of 6: second sound (redundant to segment 5)

Long video on liquid helium

BEC Rb atoms by U. Colorado

Chap. 8, Ising model and Monte Carlo

Ising model, 2D, nice and easy to run

Ising model, lots of controls

Ising applet with adjustable dimensions and boundary conditions, as well as usual controls

3D Ising model , lots of nice controls

 

Spin systems:

Spin waves, illustration

Phase transitions:

Phase changes, applets

Broken symmetry and order parameters (by J. Sethna)

Hysteresis (by J. Sethna)

Hysteresis simulation

Phase separation--dramatic movie

 

Last updated Oct. 7, 2014