Upper division undergraduate elective introducing statistical mechanics: Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein distribution laws. Relation of thermodynamic variables to microscopic properties.

Instructors

Prof. Deborah K. Fygenson, deborah@physics.ucsb.edu

• Office Hours:.Wednesdays 2-3 pm and Thursdays 3:30-4:30 pm in Broida 2419 (my office) x2449
  Office H  or by appointment, just ask!

TA: Preeti Ovartchaiyapong, pov@physics.ucsb.edu

• • Office Hours: Thursdays, 11 – 12:30 pm in Broida 1019 (Physics Study Room)

(also Fridays, 10 – 11:30 am)

Textbooks

Primary: An Introduction to Thermal Physics, by Daniel V. Schroeder
On reserve at the library:

• An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Schroeder
• Thermal Physics, Kittel and Kroemer
• Fundamentals of Statistical & Thermal Physics, Reif
• Classical & Statistical Thermographics, Carter

You can check the status of books by visiting the library’s Course Reserve website, and searching for PHYS119B.

Homework

All assignments are from Schroeder. Solutions will be posted for download from this site as they come due.

• Homework Timing Homework will be due at the beginning of every lecture, as listed on the weekly calendar.
  Exception: the first homework will be due on Friday, January 7.
• Homework Evaluation Homework grades will be posted on GauchoSpace and graded homeworks will be returned during TA office hours between 1 and 2 weeks after their due date.
  Late submissions will be penalized and may not be graded until the end of the quarter.
  Point value of assigned problems are listed in the description of each homework assignment. In general, each assigned problem or sub-problem will be awarded 2 pts if work is well-documented and correct, 1 pt if incorrect or correct but poorly documented and 0 pts if not attempted.
  You can earn points for any unassigned problems from Chapters 6, 7 or 8 in Schroeder. These can be turned in at any time, but will be graded only as time permits (i.e., possibly not until after the last lecture). For each such problem (or sub-problem) you will be awarded 1 pt if your work is well-documented and correct, 1/2 pt if it is incorrect or correct but poorly documented.
• Homework Grades will be computed from the ratio of points earned to points assigned.

Grading

Participation….5%;

Homework….10%;

Midterm1….25%;

Midterm2….25%;

Final….35%

Upper division undergraduate elective introducing classification of solids; crystal symmetry, thermal, electric and magnetic properties; metals, semiconductors, and the band theory of electronic states; magnetic resonance; superconductivity; imperfections. Emphasis is placed on both fundamental and applied aspects.

Mentored training in experimental techniques used for biophysical research.  Enrollment is only by permission of instructor..

Upper-division undergraduate elective course exploring the physical world of biological macromolecules. Emphasis is placed on diffusion, entropy, entropic forces, chemical forces and chemical kinetics.

Graduate elective course surveying modern experimental techniques in biological physics and landmark results of the past decade. Recent literature is used throughout.

An intensive laboratory course for physical science and engineering students providing background knowledge and laboratory experience in standard molecular biology and protein purification techniques, as well as techniques for characterizing purified proteins.  Students carry out a three-part project similar to that performed in many contemporary biochemistry and molecular biology laboratories. The first part of the project involves cloning the gene for a protein involved in bacterial chemotaxis into a modern expression vector and changing specific amino acids in this protein by site-directed mutagenesis of the corresponding plasmid DNA. In the second part of the project, students express the wild-type and mutated proteins in bacterial cells and purify the expressed proteins by means of affinity chromatography. In the third and final part, students characterize the wild-type and mutant proteins by electrospray mass spectrometry and perform binding studies using fluorescence and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry.

BMSE 210 – Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Techniques for Physical Scientists (w/ Kalju Kahn and Rick Dahlquist)