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PHYS5510 · Term 1, 2026–27

Lecture calendar & videos

Find recordings by lecture date or chapter. Subtitle and script options appear on recordings where they are available.

Mon: Lady Shaw LT3 · Wed: MMW 710 · 12:30–14:15

Teaching plan updated September 14: Chapter 1 completed in two lectures. Chapters 3 and 6 have three lectures each; the other core chapters have two. The 24 teaching meetings include the introduction and final review; Chapter 11 is optional.

Session topics show the course plan and may change. Video chapter assignments follow the recorded lecture.

September 2026

Video not available

  • Chapter 0: Course orientationCourse route and arrangements

October 2026

Video not available

  • Chapter 4: Non-ideal gasesFull natural-order sequence; continue according to progress

Video not available

  • Chapter 5: van der WaalsMean field and isotherms

Video not available

  • Chapter 5: van der WaalsCoexistence and critical exponents
  • Midterm practice20 minutes within the Ch5 meeting

  • No classChung Yeung Festival

  • Tentative midtermIn class · MMW 710

Video not available

  • Chapter 6: Ising modelLattice-gas mapping and mean field

Video not available

  • Chapter 6: Ising model1D transfer matrix and correlations

November 2026

Video not available

  • Chapter 6: Ising model2D duality; mean-field limitations

Video not available

  • Chapter 7: Landau theoryFree-energy minima; tricriticality

Video not available

  • Chapter 7: Landau-GinzburgGradients, response and Ginzburg

Video not available

  • Chapter 8: ScalingScaling forms and exponent relations

Video not available

  • Chapter 8: ScalingBlocks, universality and RG intuition

Video not available

  • Chapter 9: Renormalization groupFlow recap and full 1D decimation

Video not available

  • Chapter 9: Renormalization groupLinearize flows; extract exponents

Video not available

  • Chapter 10: KT transitionSpin waves, correlations and winding

Video not available

  • Chapter 10: KT transitionVortex unbinding and stiffness

December 2026

Video not available

  • Synthesis and reviewWorked problems; exam preparation

Videos by chapter

Chapter 1: Thermodynamics Review

Lecture 1 · Parts 1–8

Recorded 09 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Thermodynamic Variables and the Zeroth Law
  2. Part 02: The First Law and Thermodynamic Processes
  3. Part 03: The Second Law and the Carnot Engine
  4. Part 04: Carnot Efficiency and Absolute Temperature
  5. Part 05: Entropy and Free Expansion
  6. Part 06: Adiabatic Cooling and Phase-Space Density
  7. Part 07: Entropy Redistribution and Evaporative Cooling
  8. Part 08: Fundamental Relation, Extensivity, and Gibbs–Duhem

Lecture 2 · Parts 1–7

Recorded 14 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Legendre Transformations and Thermodynamic Potentials
  2. Part 02: Local Thermodynamics in a Trapped Gas
  3. Part 03: Measuring Pressure from a Density Profile
  4. Part 04: Maxwell Relations and Chemical Potential
  5. Part 05: Response Functions and Heat Capacities
  6. Part 06: Equilibrium from Entropy Maximization
  7. Part 07: Thermodynamic Stability and Allowed Variations

Chapter 2: Statistical Ensembles

Lecture 2 · Parts 8–10

Recorded 14 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 08: From Thermodynamics to Statistical Mechanics
  2. Part 09: Fluctuations, Phase Space, and Microscopic Dynamics
  3. Part 10: Three Ensembles and Equal A Priori Probability

Lecture 3 · Parts 1–13

Recorded 16 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Equal Probability and the Ergodic Hypothesis
  2. Part 02: Energy Shells and Boltzmann Entropy
  3. Part 03: Phase-Space Counting and the Gibbs Paradox
  4. Part 04: Thermodynamics from Entropy Derivatives
  5. Part 05: Two-Level Spins, Stirling Approximation, and Temperature
  6. Part 06: Time Averages, Integrability, and Glassy Relaxation
  7. Part 07: Rydberg Blockade and Quantum Many-Body Scars
  8. Part 08: Thermalization and the Limits of Equilibrium Assumptions
  9. Part 09: From a Heat Reservoir to Boltzmann Weights
  10. Part 10: Reservoir Assumptions and the Canonical Derivation
  11. Part 11: Partition Function and Helmholtz Free Energy
  12. Part 12: Energy Fluctuations, Heat Capacity, and Response
  13. Part 13: Worked Example: The Classical Harmonic Oscillator

Lecture 4 · Parts 1–20

Recorded 21 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Canonical Ensemble Recap and Degeneracy
  2. Part 02: Canonical Ideal Classical Gas
  3. Part 03: Particle Exchange and the Grand Canonical Ensemble
  4. Part 04: Derivation of the Grand Canonical Distribution
  5. Part 05: Grand Partition Functions and Notation
  6. Part 06: Fugacity and the Cluster Expansion
  7. Part 07: Density Fluctuations and Compressibility
  8. Part 08: Grand Canonical Ideal Gas
  9. Part 09: Cold-Atom Subsystems and Fluctuation Thermometry
  10. Part 10: Ensemble Summary and the Limits of Expansions
  11. Part 11: Integrability, Glasses, and Broken Ergodicity
  12. Part 12: Microscopic Systems and Macroscopic Reservoirs
  13. Part 13: Collision, Relaxation, and Observation Times
  14. Part 14: Examples of Fluctuation–Dissipation Relations
  15. Part 15: Symmetry in Statistical Mechanics
  16. Part 16: Critical Phenomena and Universality
  17. Part 17: Information Theory and Maximum Entropy
  18. Part 18: Monte Carlo and Finite-Size Scaling
  19. Part 19: Beyond Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
  20. Part 20: Quantum Statistical Mechanics Preview

Chapter 3: Quantum Statistics

Lecture 5 · Parts 1–5

Recorded 23 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Quantum Statistics: Introduction
  2. Part 02: Ensembles and Purity
  3. Part 03: Density-Matrix Properties
  4. Part 04: Quantum Dynamics and Canonical States
  5. Part 05: Grand-Canonical Ensemble

Lecture 6 · Parts 1–15

Recorded 28 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Quantum Measurements and Back-Action
  2. Part 02: Microcanonical States and Entropy
  3. Part 03: Matrix Functions and Pure-State Entropy
  4. Part 04: Conserved Particle Numbers and Chemical Potentials
  5. Part 05: Free Fermions and Occupation Numbers
  6. Part 06: The Fermionic Grand Partition Function
  7. Part 07: Chemical Potential and Mode Occupation
  8. Part 08: The Fermi–Dirac Distribution
  9. Part 09: Thermal Broadening of the Fermi Surface
  10. Part 10: Density of States in Three Dimensions
  11. Part 11: Grand Potential and the Equation of State
  12. Part 12: Recovering the Classical Ideal Gas
  13. Part 13: Chemical Potential, Fugacity, and the Classical Regime
  14. Part 14: Free Bosons and Quantum Statistics
  15. Part 15: Bosonic Partition Functions and the Condensation Preview

Lecture 7 · Parts 1–17

Recorded 30 September 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: Fermi Statistics and the Classical Limit
  2. Part 02: Bose Statistics, Bunching, and Antibunching
  3. Part 03: Boson Thermodynamics and Excited-State Saturation
  4. Part 04: Bose–Einstein Condensation and the Condensate Fraction
  5. Part 05: Critical Temperature and the Thermodynamic Limit
  6. Part 06: Realizing Condensation in Atomic Gases
  7. Part 07: Trap Geometry and the Condensation Phase Diagram
  8. Part 08: Learning Statistical Mechanics from Different Perspectives
  9. Part 09: Composite Quantum Systems and Their Environments
  10. Part 10: Reduced Density Matrices and the Partial Trace
  11. Part 11: Product States, Bell States, and Local Information
  12. Part 12: Entanglement and Nonfactorizable States
  13. Part 13: Bipartite Entanglement Entropy
  14. Part 14: Schmidt Decomposition and the Entropy Bound
  15. Part 15: Compressing Quantum States with Singular Values
  16. Part 16: Mutual Information and Purity Measurements
  17. Part 17: Area Laws and Canonical Typicality

Chapter 4: Non-ideal Gases

Lecture 8 · Parts 1–12

Recorded 05 October 2026

View parts
  1. Part 01: From Ideal Gases to Microscopic Interactions
  2. Part 02: The Partition Function and Mayer Bonds
  3. Part 03: Connected Components and Cluster Integrals
  4. Part 04: Counting Particle-Label Partitions
  5. Part 05: Cluster Counting and Few-Particle Integrals
  6. Part 06: Assembling the Grand Partition Function
  7. Part 07: Pressure and Density from Connected Clusters
  8. Part 08: Dilute Gases and the Limits of the Expansion
  9. Part 09: Lee–Yang Zeros and Phase Transitions
  10. Part 10: C. N. Yang and CUHK
  11. Part 11: The Pair Integral and van der Waals Matching
  12. Part 12: Series Inversion and Higher Virial Coefficients