Welcome to the 8.334 webpage,
Spring 2003, Statistical Physics II


Course Structure and Description:

Lectures: We, Fr, 2-3:30, in Rm. 12-142 by Prof Leonid Levitov,
Office 12-112, Telephone: x3-6817, levitov@mit.edu,
Office hours: Fri, 3:30-4:30;
Recitations: Mo, 2-3:30, in Rm. 12-142 by Mr Vadim Roytershteyn,
Office 26-205, Telephone: x3-8539, roytersh@mit.edu,
Office hours: Tu, 3-4;
Problem sets: weekly, 12 in total, due Wednesday in class (at the beginning of the lecture);
Term paper:
A list of term paper topics postscript will be provided and discussed in class, due May 9;
Final exam: May 14 (the last lecture), 1.5 hr long, closed book;
Grade: problem sets 33.3%, final exam 33.3%, term paper 33.3%

Please tell us what you expect to learn in 8.334 and provide information on your background by filling this questionnaire: postscript

Course syllabus postscript and weekly schedule postscript (Note: the schedule is tentative and probably will be revised as we go on).

Selected lecture notes are available

Problem Sets:

Problem Set #1: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #2: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #3: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #4: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #5: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #6: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #7: postscript Solutions: postscript
Problem Set #8: postscript
Problem Set #9: postscript
Problem Set #10: postscript
Problem Set #11: postscript
Problem Set #12: postscript new, re-edited 05/01/03

Lecture notes:

Lecture 1: Long-range order, symmetry and soft modes postscript
Lecture 2: Phase transitions, the mean field approach postscript
Lecture 3: Symmetry breaking, Landau theory postscript
Lecture 4: Universality classes. Susceptibility and fluctuations postscript
Lecture 5: Fluctuations near phase transition. Renormalization group postscript
Lecture 6: Real space RG. Blocking, decimation, bonds-moving postscript
Lecture 7: Scaling theory near critical point postscript
Lecture 8: Field-theoretic RG. Low dimensional systems. Nonlinear sigma model. postscript
Lecture 9: Topological transition in the XY model. in preparation
Lecture 10: Sine-Gordon model and Coulomb gas. Villain duality. postscript
Lecture 11: Topological melting in 2D. Dislocations, disclinations, instantons. postscript
Lecture 12: Field-theoretic RG. Wilson-Fisher fixed point. postscript new
Lecture 13: Asymptotic symmetry. Run-away RG trajectories. in preparation
Lecture 14: Functional integral in statistical mechanics. in progress

Guest lecture by Prof John Negele, Quantum Chromodynamics on a Lattice LINK
Guest lecture by Prof Gregory Falkovich, Critical Phenomena and Scaling Laws in Turbulence gzipped postscript

Useful links
Lecture notes on Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the XY model by
Ben Simons ( postscript pdf ), Matthew J. W. Dodgson ( postscript pdf ), Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen ( postscript pdf )
A clear and simple discussion of phase transitions, Landau theory, mean field theory, Ising model, mixtures, binary alloys, can be found in lectures by Edward Groth (Princeton) --- Also, check other lectures, from lect22.pdf through lect27.pdf
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Last modified: May 2, 2003
Leonid Levitov
levitov@mit.edu