The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (L), recitation (R), and exam (E) sessions.
SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
---|---|---|
L1 |
Collective Behavior, from Particles to Fields Introduction, Phonons and Elasticity | |
L2 |
Collective Behavior, from Particles to Fields (cont.) Phase Transitions, Critical Behavior The Landau-Ginzburg ApproachIntroduction, Saddle Point Approximation, and Mean-field Theory | |
L3 |
The Landau-Ginzburg Approach (cont.) Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and Goldstone Modes | |
L4 |
The Landau-Ginzburg Approach (cont.) Scattering and Fluctuations, Correlation Functions and Susceptibilities, Comparison to Experiments | |
L5 |
The Landau-Ginzburg Approach (cont.) Gaussian Integrals, Fluctuation Corrections to the Saddle Point, The Ginzburg Criterion | |
R1 | Recitation | |
L6 |
The Scaling Hypothesis The Homogeneity Assumption, Divergence of the Correlation Length, Critical Correlation Functions and Self-similarity | |
L7 |
The Scaling Hypothesis (cont.) The Renormalization Group (Conceptual), The Renormalization Group (Formal) | Problem set 1 due |
L8 |
The Scaling Hypothesis (cont.) The Gaussian Model (Direct Solution), The Gaussian Model (Renormalization Group) | |
L9 |
Perturbative Renormalization Group Expectation Values in the Gaussian Model, Expectation Values in Perturbation Theory, Diagrammatic Representation of Perturbation Theory, Susceptibility | |
R2 | Recitation | |
L10 |
Perturbative Renormalization Group (cont.) Perturbative RG (First Order) | |
R2 | Recitation | Problem set 2 due |
R3 | Recitation (Review for Test) | |
E1 | In-class Test 1 | |
L11 |
Perturbative Renormalization Group (cont.) Perturbative RG (Second Order), The ε-expansion | |
L12 |
Perturbative Renormalization Group (cont.) Irrelevance of Other Interactions, Comments on the ε-expansion | |
L13 |
Position Space Renormalization Group Lattice Models, Exact Treatment in d=1 | |
R4 | Recitation | |
L14 |
Position Space Renormalization Group (cont.) The Niemeijer-van Leeuwen Cumulant Approximation, The Migdal-Kadanoff Bond Moving Approximation | |
L15 |
Series Expansions Low-temperature Expansions, High-temperature Expansions, Eexact Solution of the One Dimensional Ising Model | Problem set 3 due |
L16 |
Series Expansions (cont.) Self-duality in the Two Dimensional Ising Model, Dual of the Three Dimensional Ising Model | |
L17 |
Series Expansions (cont.) Summing over Phantom Loops | |
L18 |
Series Expansions (cont.) Exact Free Energy of the Square Lattice Ising Model | |
R5 | Recitation | |
L19 |
Series Expansions (cont.) Critical Behavior of the Two Dimensional Ising Model | Problem set 4 due |
L20 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures The Non-linear σ-model | |
L21 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures (cont.) Topological Defects in the XY Model | |
L22 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures (cont.) Renormalization Group for the Coulomb Gas | |
R6 | Recitation (Review for Test) | |
E2 | In-class Test 2 | |
R7 | Recitation | |
L23 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures (cont.) Two Dimensional Solids, Two Dimensional Melting | Problem set 5 due |
L24 |
Dissipative Dynamics Brownian Motion of a Particle | |
R8 | Recitation | |
L25 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures (cont.) Equilibrium Dynamics of a Field, Dynamics of a Conserved Field | |
R9 | Recitation | Problem set 6 due |
E3 | In-class Test 3 | |
L26 |
Continuous Spins at Low Temperatures (cont.) Generic Scale Invariance in Equilibrium Systems, Non-equilibrium Dynamics of Open Systems, Dynamics of a Growing Surface | Final project due 2 days after L26 |