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Physics 6351 - Statistical Mechanics

Course Information - Spring 2025

"Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906 by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on his work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics. Perhaps it will be wise to approach the subject cautiously."
-- David L. Goodstein (States of Matter, Dover 1985)

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"[Thermodynamics] is the only physical theory of a general nature of which I am convinced that it will never be overthrown."
--Albert Einstein
"Thermodynamics is a funny subject. The first time you go through it, you don't understand it at all. The second time you go through it, you think you understand it, except for one or two small points. The third time you go through it, you know you don't understand it, but by that time you are so used to it, it doesn't bother you anymore."
— Arnold Sommerfeld (c.1950) when asked why he had never written a book on the subject; in Angrist, Stanley W. and Helper, Loren G. (1967). Order and Chaos – Laws of Energy and Entropy (pg. 215). New York: Basic Books.