Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum - Statistical Mechanics
By Stanford Continuing Studies Program
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Description
This course is comprised of a six-quarter sequence of classes that will explore the essential theoretical foundations of modern physics. The topics covered in this course sequence will include classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, the general and special theories of relativity, electromagnetism, cosmology, and black holes. While these courses will build upon one another, each course also stands on its own, and both individually and collectively they will let students attain the “theoretical minimum” for thinking intelligently about modern physics. Quantum theory governs the universe at its most basic level. In the first half of the 20th century physics was turned on its head by the radical discoveries of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Erwin Schroedinger. An entire new logical and mathematical foundation—quantum mechanics—eventually replaced classical physics. We will explore the quantum world, including the particle theory of light, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and the Schroedinger Equation.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 10 (June 1, 2009) | Leonard Susskind presents the final lecture of Statistical Mechanics 10. In this lecture, he cover such topics as inflation, adiabatic transformation and thermal dynamic systems. (June 1, 2009) | 8/25/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 2 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 9 (May 25, 2009) | Leonard Susskind picks up on magnets, phase transitions, and mean field transitions. He goes on to explain chemical potential. (May 25, 2009) | 8/17/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 3 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 8 (May 18, 2009) | Leonard Susskind lectures on a new class of systems, magnetic systems. He goes on to talk about mean field approximations of molecules in multidimensional lattice systems. (May 18, 2009) | 8/10/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 4 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 7 (May 11, 2009) | Leonard Susskind lectures on harmonic oscillators, quantum states, boxes of radiation and all associated computations such as wavelengths, volume, energy and temperature. (May 11, 2009) | 7/22/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 5 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 5 (April 27, 2009) | Leonard Susskind discusses the basic physics of the diatomic molecule and why you don't have to worry about its structure at low temperature. Susskind later explores a black hole thermodynamics. (April 27, 2009) | 7/20/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 6 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 6 (May 4, 2009) | Leonard Susskind explains the second law of thermodynamics, illustrates chaos, and discusses how the volume of phase space grows. (May 4, 2009) | 7/20/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 7 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 4 (April 20, 2009) | Leonard Susskind explains how to calculate and define pressure, explores the formulas some of applications of Helm-Holtz free energy, and discusses the importance of the partition function. (April 20, 2009) | 7/13/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 8 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 3 (April 13, 2009) | Leonard Susskind reviews the Lagrange multiplier, explains Boltzmann distribution and Helm-Holtz free energy before oulining into the theory of fluctuations. (April 13, 2009) | 7/6/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 9 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 2 (April 6, 2009) | Leonard Susskind overviews elementary mathematics to define a method for understanding statistical mechanics. (April 6, 2009) | 6/29/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 10 | VideoStatistical Mechanics Lecture 1 (March 30, 2009) | Leonard Susskind discusses the study of statistical analysis as calculating the probability of things subject to the constraints of a conserved quantity. (March 30, 2009) | 6/22/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 10 Items |
Customer Reviews
Great Series
Another great lecture series. I wish that there were more lectures.
The only distractor is the "off the wall" questions; which there less.
Excellent lectures
Very informative. It's amazing to watch the way the professor derives the equations.
Shut the students up
The students think they contribute with their comments but they only distract from the lecture. It's like watching a movie being spoiled every couple minutes. Multiple times, Prof. Susskind loses his train of thought because he's responding to some question out of left field. Just because you go to Stanford doesn't put you in place to question physical concepts over a century old and let the guy finish an explanation before you make some kind of two-bit, extraneous addition.l
