Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

General presentation: notions of phases, order parameter, some examples.

Equilibrium states and phases:
Fundamental relations, conditions of equilibrium and stability, classification of
equilibrium states.
The entropy representation, equilibrium conditions in terms of other potentials.
Convexity properties of thermodynamic potentials
Useful thermo dynamical relations for fluids and magnetic systems.
General properties of phase transitions:
Classification of phase transitions. Role of the order parameter.
Coexistence of phases in equilibrium. Gibbs rule. Maxwell construction.
Meta-stability.
Critical points
Beyond the order parameter: the correlation function for fluids and magnets.
Fluctuation-dissipation theorem.
Critical point exponents, inequalities.
Hamiltonian Models
Mean Field Theory (MF)
Weiss approach. MF derivation of the Van der Waals equation of state. MF
theory of magnetic phase transitions.
Variational approach.
Landaus approach
MF critical point exponents.
Scaling law hypothesis:
Generalized homogeneous functions,
Static scaling hypothesis,
Derivation of critical exponents equalities
Introduction to Renormalization Group
Definition of the renormalization transformation
RG in real space, decimation, recursion equations, fixed points

Bibliography:
Introduction to Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena. H.E. Stanley, Clarendon
Press, Oxford (1971)
Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions. J.M.Yeomans, Oxford Science
Publications, (1992)
Theory of Critical Phenomena. D.I.Uzunov, World Scientific (1993)