PHYS310-17S1 (C) Semester One 2017

Thermal, Statistical and Particle Physics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 20 February 2017
End Date: Sunday, 25 June 2017
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 5 March 2017
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 21 May 2017

Description

Development of statistical mechanics from thermodynamic principals. Entropy interpreted from both the thermodynamic and statistical viewpoint. Applications in nuclear and particle physics including radioactivity.

This course provides an introduction to the study of the physical properties of matter. It integrates the study of thermal properties of matter in bulk (thermodynamics) with the molecular/atomic approach (statistical physics). The particle physics is further extended to subatomic scales with an introduction to the phenomenology of nuclear structure, radiation processes and the standard model of particle interactions.

Learning Outcomes

Please consult the document General Information for Physics and Astronomy Students on the Physics and Astronomy Web Page:
http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/
specifically:
http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/general.pdf

Prerequisites

(1) PHYS203; (2) MATH103 or EMTH119. RP: MATH201

Restrictions

PHYS204, PHYS440

Recommended Preparation

Course Coordinator

Roger Reeves

Lecturers

Chris Gordon and Michael Albrow

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Final Exam 60%
Homework Assignments 20% to be handed in every Monday from the second week
Test 1 10% On Thermodynamics, held on 24 March in lecture time.
Test 2 10% On Statisticl Physics Section, held on Thursday 12th May, lecture time.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Serway, RA; Moses, CJ; Moyer, CA; Modern Physics ; 3rd;

Recommended Reading

Frauenfelder, Hans; Nuclear and particle physics (1975) ; 1975.

Karl Heinrich Lieser; Nuclear and radiochemistry: fundamentals and applications (1997) ; 1997.

Martin and Shaw; Particle physics ; 1997.

Parker, Sybil P; Nuclear and Particle Physics Source Book (1988) ; 1988.

Riedi, PC; Thermal Physics: an introduction to thermodynamics Statistical mechanics, and kinetic theory ; 1988.

Sears and Salinger; Thermodynamics, kinetic theory, and statistical thermodynamics ; 1975.

Sprackling M; Thermal Physics ; 1991.

Williams; Nuclear and Particle Physics ; 1991.

Course links

Course and content information (234KB)

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $848.00

International fee $3,713.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 10 people apply to enrol.

For further information see School of Physical & Chemical Sciences .

All PHYS310 Occurrences

  • PHYS310-17S1 (C) Semester One 2017
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