MATH 996 – Selected Topics in Mathematical Statistical Mechanics (Fall 2019)

Important announcements will be made here from time to time, check back often.

  1. Notes will be developed during the lectures. Reference books will be mentioned and some notes distributed during each chapter as the course unfolds.
  2. Office: 510 Snow Hall; Phone: 785-864-3764; Office hour: Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-12:00 am or by appointment; Lecture time: Tuesday and Thursday. 2:30-3:45 pm at 564 Snow Hall.
  3. Grades will be based on class interactions and assignments (individualized reading and presentations will be assigned).
  4. Course coverage: (Physics material) basic thermodynamics (0-th, 1st and 2nd laws), derivation on laws for ideal gas, equivalence of ensembles, kinetic equation and hydrodynamic equations; (Mathematical theories) large deviation theory, calculus of variations, Hamilton-Jacobi PDEs, Hamiltonian dynamics and weak KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) theory, etc…