Physics 525, Winter 2026

STATISTICAL MECHANICS 2



Marcel den Nijs

Office: PAB B429
Department of Physics
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
(206)-543-7305
london@uw.edu

Tu and Th 9:30 am - 10:50 am
We 9:30-10:20 am
PAA A114

OUTLINE:

This is the second quarter of the graduate statistical mechanics course sequence.

The course starts with a discussion of random walks, review transport theory, and presents the Onsager reciprocal relations in the context of electrons in metals and the Boltzmann equation.

The main focus of this course is on equilibrium and non-equilibrium critical phenomena, in particular, scale invariance, renormalization theory, topological phenomena with non-local order parameters, transfer matrices, and time permitting quantum phase transitions.

CANVAS

All course materials will be posted on Canvas. These include the homework assignments, homework solutions, the solutions to the random weekly short quizzes, my lecture notes, literature, and other documents for this course.

The lectures are blackboards based supplemented by projecting the posted lecture notes.

HOMEWORK, TESTS, EXAMS, and CREDIT:

Weekly Homework (HW) assignments are posted on Canvas and due on Mondays as uploads into Canvas. All work must be handwritten in your own handwriting, except for computer output like Mathematica. Each HW assignment is worth 30 points. Your lowest HW score (or missing one) will not count towards your grade. HW solutions are posted on Canvas the next day (Tuesday) before class.

The in-class quizzes are held at random, during the first 20 minutes of the lecture. The average frequency is one quiz per week. Each Quiz is worth 10 points. Your lowest Quiz score (or missing one) will not count towards your grade.

There will be no midterms and no final exam.

OFFICE HOURS:

My office hours are on Monday morning at 1-3 pm in-person in my office (room B429) and/or on Zoom. You are invited to come to my office or contact me at any time with more questions, comments, and suggestions, or whatever; provided I am not preoccupied with something urgent.

ACCOMODATION POLICIES:

Students who require SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS or encounter special (un)expected circumstances during the quarter should contact me as early as possible, so we can address these in a timely fashion.
See also: Disability Resources for Students .

The RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS policies of the UW can be found at
https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy.
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