Some Web sites of interest and relevance to Physics 404
Spring 2007
Schroeder's site for An Introduction to Thermal Physics:
Other downloadable books
D. Styer, Statistical Mechanics
R. Fitzpatrick, Thermodynamics & Stat Mech (html)
Simulations:
Java Simulations for Statistical and Thermal Physics from Gould and Tobochnik's excellent curriculum development
General references:
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)
Clear, succinct, elementary discussion of thermal expansion
Coefficients of linear expansion of the elements
Cute applet about heat capacity
Latent heat, elementary but good graph
Better site on latent heat, but less polished graph
Permutations and combinations, elementary review and alternative, with binomial coefficients
Combinations (wikipedia, terse)
Applet re probability distributions
Binomial and normal distributions, from Rice U.
Stirling's approximation (wikipedia)
Applets for 2-level system and rotating dimer (scroll down past formalism!)
Thermodynamics:
Applet of bouncing ball and entropy
Extensive, non-technical discussion of entropy
Long discussion of entropy claiming to clarify common misconceptions
Discussion of entropy and biology
Equilibration of Einstein solids
Flanders & Swan ditty on Laws of Thermodynamics
Chap. 4--Heat Engines & Refrigerators:
Carnot cycle [alternative download site] sophisticated
Carnot cycle from UVa
Otto cycle-car engine, animated
Otto cycle with p-V diagram, re Wright brothers
Stirling engine in Wikipedia, has nice graphics, p-V diagram, and lots of info
Stirling engine, excellent applet linked in Wikipedia article
Stirling engine (in German)
Refrigeration cycle, qualitative
Chap. 5--Free Energies, Phase Transformations, Chemical Thermodynamics:
Generic phase diagrams, nice summary
Liquid 4He phase diagram and info
van der Waals applet, with adjustable a and b
van der Waals compressibility (=pV/NkT) vs. p for adjustable a, b, T
Ideal gas, van der Waals, and alternative
van der Waals isotherms (in French)
Chemistry animations & simulations
Chemical equilibrium, with virtual experiments
Chemical equilibrium, nice example from above
Phase changes, from chemistry suite at Davidson
Phase separation--dramatic movie
Chap. 6--Boltzmann Statistics, Classical Systems
Maxwell Boltzmann distribution, applet (Davidson)
Maxwell Boltzmann distribution, with applet (Rappe group at UPenn)
Speed distribution for noble gases
Vesely site on Boltzmann & statistical physics in introductory courses
Illustrative applet for system with 4 discrete levels
Chap. 7--Quantum Statistics
Fermi-Dirac distribution: temperature dependence
Dependence of Fermi-Dirac distribution on chemical potential
Black body spectrum, inc. total emitted power
Phonon dispersion and display of transverse modes in 1D (excellent java app but too complicated for Phys 404. Just look at the acoustic mode; ignore the optical mode! Also, just focus on either the red or the blue dots)
Phonon density of states via "debye"
Bose-Einstein condensation, popularized exposition with nice java
Path-integral simulation of Bose condensation (Shumway at ASU)
Chap. 8--Ising model & Monte Carlo simulation
Ising applet, control T, monitor configurations, magnetization and energy
Ising applet with adjustable dimensions and boundary conditions, as well as usual controls
3
applets from Syracuse, plus html tutorial
3D
Ising model, lots of nice controls
Compendium of Monte Carlo applets
Random applet, with nice sketch of theory and ability to tune and test
Mersenne twister--state-of-the-art random-number generator
Conductivity & transport:
Random walk applet, along with elementary discussion of diffusion
Phase transitions:
Broken symmetry and order parameters (by J. Sethna)
Melting of metal--crude animation
Brownian motion, excellent applet
Last updated May 4, 2007
