Theory of Phase Transitions

Lecture

Contents:

1. Classification and Examples of Phase Transition Phenomena
- Phase Transition Order Classification According to Ehrenfest
- Density and Field Quantities
- Examples of Phase Transitions

2. Thermodynamic Phase Stability
- Thermal, Mechanical, Material Equilibrium
- Stable, Metastable, Instable States

3. Phase Transitions and Symmetry
- Phase Symmetry, Order Parameter
- Spin Lattice Model

4. Landau Theory of Phase Transitions of First and Second Order
- Taylor Series for the Free Energy
- Generalized Field and Susceptibility

5. Landau Theory of Fluids
- Liquid/Gas System
- Binary Mixtures

6. Critical Exponents
7. Correlations Functions
8. Landau Theory near the Tricritical Point

9. Scaling Theory
- Generalized Homogeneous Functions
- Scaling Relations for Thermodynamic Functions
- Scaling and Hyperscaling Hypothesis

10. Fluctuation Theory in the Gaussian Approximation
- Fluctuations of Thermodynamic Functions
- Fluctuations near Critical Points
- Fluctuations and Correlation Functions
- Ginzburg Criterion

11. Microscopic Models Showing Phase Transitions
- Ising Model and Lattice Gas
- Transfer Matrix Method
- Bragg Williams Approximation

12. Nucleation Theory
- Thermodynamic Problems
- Lifshitz-Slyozov- Theory

13. Percolation Theory