• Statistical Mechanics is a probabilistic approach to equilibrium properties of large numbers of degrees of freedom.
• A number of preliminary are needed to clarify various terms in the above definition, and the syllabus is a guide on how we intend to carry out this task:

1. Thermodynamics- Thermal equilibrium, the laws of thermodynamics; temperature, energy, entropy, and other functions of state. (4 Lec.)
2. Probability theory- Probability densities, cumulants and correlations; central limit theorem; laws of large numbers. (2.5 Lec.)
3. Kinetic theory- Phase space densities; Liouville's theorem, BBGKY hierarchy, the Boltzmann equation; transport phenomena. (4.5 Lec.)
4. Classical Statistical Mechanics- Postulates; microcanonical, canonical and grand canonical ensembles; non-interacting examples. (3 Lec.)
5. Interacting systems- Virial and cluster expansions; van der Waals theory; liquid-vapor condensation. (4 Lec.)
6. Quantum Statistical Mechanics- Quantization effects in molecular gases; phonons, photons; density matrix formulation. (3 Lec.)
7. Identical particles- Degenerate quantum gases; Fermi liquids; Bose condensation; superfluidity. (5 Lec.)

• All information pertaining to this course will be posted to the web-site http://web.mit.edu/8.333/www

I. Thermodynamics

• Thermodynamics is a phenomenological description of properties of macroscopic systems in thermal equilibrium.
• Notes for lecture # 1

• In this house, we OBEY the laws of thermodynamics!
• Homer Simpson
• "A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and the more extended is its area of applicability. Therefore the deep impression which classical thermodynamics made upon me. It is the only physical theory of universal content concerning which I am convinced that within the framework of the applicability of its basic concepts, it will never be overthrown."
•   Albert Einstein
  Autobiographical Notes (1946), 33. Quoted in Gerald Holton and Yehuda Elkana, Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives(1997), 227.
• 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 points. The third time you go through it, you know you don't understand it, but by that time you are so used to the subject, it doesn't bother you anymore.
  Arnold Sommerfeld
  Quoted, without citation, in Stanley W. Angrist and Loren G. Hepler, Order and Chaos: Laws of Energy and Entropy (1967), 215. The authors identify it as “perhaps apocryphal.” The quote is used as epigraph, dated as 1950 in Anton Z. Capri, Quips, Quotes, and Quanta: An Anecdotal History of Physics  (2011), 50. The quote is introduced as “When asked why he did not write on that field he replied somewhat as follows,” by Keith J. Laidler in Physical Chemistry with Biological Applications (1978), 145.