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Thermal Physics Research Project - Spring 2014
The goal of this project is to explore interesting
topics in thermal physics including some historical developments. Most
of these would involve an in-depth exploration of some topic in thermal
physics, such as these listed below. However, there might be some
thermal physics experiments you could consider depending upon
accessibility of materials.
There are deadlines to keep you on track. You will first
decide on a project and submit a project proposal for approval. A
progress report will be due. This will essentially contain a well
written description of what you have learned to date and will in most
cases consist of a title, abstract, introduction and list of references,
properly formatted. This will most likely constitute the beginning of
your final paper. The end result will be a paper. Depending upon time,
demonstrations of experiments might be scheduled.
All work should be typed with double-spacing and 12 pt
font. You will be expected to use correct English grammar and
punctuation. This is a report and thus you will use proper sentence and
paragraph formatting. You will be graded on the evidence of work,
theoretical/experimental detail and understanding, historical
background, proper exposition and neatness.
Your work should also be supported with properly labeled and embedded
plots and equations. Any references used should be cited as well. These
reports will count towards the project component of your grade.
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Thermodynamics of black holes
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Arrow of time
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H-Theorem
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Gibbs Paradox
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Maxwell's Demon
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Einstein's theory of Brownian motion
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Low temperature physics
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Claude Shannon and information theory
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Bose-Einstein condensation
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Renormalization group
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Poincare recurrence
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Stellar Thermodynamics
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History of blackbody radiation
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Physics of plasmas
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Homemade engines - Project would include design,
historical background, and some theory
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Other thermal physics experiments are possible, but
need pre-approval.
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