\documentclass{ian-presentation} \usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{xcolor} \definecolor{highlight}{HTML}{981414} \def\high#1{{\color{highlight}#1}} \begin{document} \pagestyle{empty} \hbox{}\vfil \bf\Large \hfil Statistical Mechanics:\par \smallskip \hfil from the microscopic to the macroscopic\par \vfil \large \hfil Ian Jauslin\par \rm\normalsize \vfil {\tt \href{mailto:ian.jauslin@rutgers.edu}{ian.jauslin@rutgers.edu}} \hfill{\tt \href{http://ian.jauslin.org}{http://ian.jauslin.org}} \eject \setcounter{page}1 \pagestyle{plain} \title{Macroscopic laws: phases of water} \begin{itemize} \item Phenomena that are \high{directly observable} are \high{Macroscopic}. \item For example, water at ambient pressure freezes \high{at} $0^\circ\mathrm{C}$ and boils \high{at} $100^\circ\mathrm{C}$. \item Liquid water, vapor and ice all have \high{very different properties}, and yet one can \high{easily transition} between these states, simply by changing the \high{temperature} \begin{itemize} \item A gas fills the entire volume available. \item A liquid is incompressible, but flows. \item A solid is rigid, and moves only as a whole. \end{itemize} \item Melting ice is \high{exactly} at $0^\circ\mathrm{C}$, and boiling water is \high{exactly} at $100^\circ\mathrm{C}$. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Macroscopic laws: gasses} \begin{itemize} \item The state of a (ideal) gas is entirely characterized by \high{three} quantities: \begin{itemize} \item $p$: pressure \item $T$: temperature \item $n$: density \end{itemize} \item Ideal gas law: $$p=\frac{k_B}\mu nT$$ \vskip-5pt \item Energy density: $$e=\frac32k_B T$$ \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Microscopic Theories: phases of water} \begin{itemize} \item Understand macroscopic laws from \high{first principles}: \high{Microscopic} theories. \vskip-5pt \item Freezing and boiling: \high{ordering transitions}. \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{gas.png} \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{liquid.png} \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{crystal.png} \begin{itemize} \item Gases expand because the molecules are far apart. \vskip-5pt \item Liquids are jammed, but molecules can still move around each other. \vskip-5pt \item Solids are constrained by the rigid pattern of their molecules. \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Microscopic Theories: gasses} \begin{itemize} \item Ideal gas: non-interacting molecules. \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{gas.png} \item We will discuss later how this predicts the laws discussed earlier. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{What is Statistical Mechanics?} \vfill \begin{itemize} \item Statistical mechanics: understanding how the \high{macroscopic} properties follow from the \high{microscopic} laws of nature (``first principles''). \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{The arrow of time} \begin{itemize} \item Microscopic dynamics are \high{reversible}. \item Consider the motion of a point particle, which follows the laws of (conservative) Newtonian mechanics. If time is \high{reversed}, the motion still satisfies the \high{same} laws of Newtonian mechanics. \item In fact, Newtonian mechanics has a \high{recurrence time}: any (bounded, conservative) mechanical system will return \high{arbitrarily close} to its original state in \high{finite} time. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{The arrow of time} \begin{itemize} \item Yet, many macroscopic phenomena are \high{irreversible}. \item Friction: the law of friction is not invariant under time reversal. \item The expansion of a gas in a container. \item How can \high{reversible} microscopic dynamics give rise to \high{irreversible} macroscopic phenomena? \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{The thermodynamic limit} \begin{itemize} \item One mole $\approx\ 6.02\times10^{23}$. \item Rough estimate of the recurrence time for a mechanical system containing $10^{23}$ particles: $\approx 10^{10^{23}}\ \mathrm{s}$. (Time since the big bang: $\approx 10^{17}\ \mathrm s$.) \item Whereas a \high{finite} number of microscopic particles behaves reversibly, an \high{infinite} number of microscopic particles does not. \item Fundamental tool of statistical mechanics: the \high{thermodynamic limit}, in which the number of particles $\to\infty$. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Putting the Statistics in Statistical Mechanics} \begin{itemize} \item To understand these infinite interacting particles, we use \high{probability theory}. \item Simple example: the ideal gas: \begin{itemize} \item Each particle is a point, and no two particles interact. \item Probability distribution: \high{Gibbs distribution} $$ p(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)=\frac1Z e^{-\beta H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)} ,\quad \beta:=\frac1{k_BT} $$ where $H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)$ is the energy of the configuration where the particles are located at $\mathbf x\equiv(x_1,\cdots,x_N)$ with velocities $\mathbf v\equiv(v_1,\cdots,v_N)$. \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{The ideal gas} \begin{itemize} \item The energy is the kinetic energy: $$ H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)= \frac12m\sum_{i=1}^Nv_i^2 . $$ \vskip-5pt \item Denoting the number of particles by $N$ and the volume by $V$, we have $$ Z=\int d\mathbf x d\mathbf v\ e^{-\beta H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)} =\int d\mathbf x\int d\mathbf v\ e^{-\frac{\beta m}2\mathbf v^2}=V^N\left(\frac{2\pi}{\beta m}\right)^{\frac32N} . $$ \vskip-5pt \item The average energy is $$ \mathbb E(H)=\frac1Z\int d\mathbf xd\mathbf v\ H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)e^{-\beta H(\mathbf x,\mathbf v)} = -\frac\partial{\partial\beta}\log Z = \frac{3N}{2\beta} =\frac32Nk_BT . $$ \item The ideal gas law can also be proved for this model. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Hard sphere model} \begin{itemize} \item The ideal gas does \high{not} form a liquid or a solid phase. \item In order to have such phase transitions, we need an \high{interaction} between particles. \item \high{Hard sphere model}: each particle is a sphere of radius $R$, and the interaction is such that no two spheres can overlap. \item Parameter: density. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Hard sphere model} \vskip-10pt \begin{itemize} \item We expect, from numerical simulations, to see two phases: a \high{gaseous} phase at low density and a \high{crystalline} one at high density. \end{itemize} \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{gas.png} \hfil \includegraphics[width=3cm]{crystal.png} \vskip-10pt \begin{itemize} \item In the \high{gaseous phase}, the particles are almost decorrelated: they behave as if they did not interact. \item In the \high{crystalline phase}, they form large scale periodic structures: they behave very differently from the ideal gas. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Hard sphere model} \begin{itemize} \item The \high{gaseous phase} is very well understood. \item The \high{crystalline phase} is much more of a mystery: we still lack a proof that it exists at positive temperatures! \item \high{Open Problem}: prove that hard spheres crystallize at sufficiently low temperatures. \item Even at zero temperature, it was only proved that they crystallize in 2005, and that proof is computer-assisted. \item This is very difficult: even tiny fluctuations in the positions of the spheres could destroy the crystalline structure. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Liquid crystals} \begin{itemize} \item Phase of matter that shares properties of \high{liquids} (disorder) and \high{crystals} (order). \item Nematic liquid crystals: order in orientation, disorder in position. \end{itemize} \hfil\includegraphics[width=4cm]{nematic.png} \vfill \eject \title{Liquid crystals} \begin{itemize} \item Model: hard cylinders, expected phases: \high{gas}, \high{nematic}, \high{smectic}, ... \end{itemize} \hfil\includegraphics[height=4cm]{gas-rods.png} \hfil\includegraphics[height=4cm]{nematic.png} \hfil\includegraphics[height=4cm]{smectic.png} \begin{itemize} \item Here again, the gas phase is well understood, but neither the nematic nor the smectic have yet been proved to exist. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Continuous symmetry breaking} \begin{itemize} \item Difficulty for both the hard spheres and liquid crystals: \high{breaking a continuous symmetry} (translation for the hard spheres, rotation for the liquid crystals). \item Continuous symmetries cannot\textsuperscript{$\ast$} be broken in one or two dimensions. \item Continuous symmetry breaking can, so far, only be proved in very special models. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Lattice models} \begin{itemize} \item Many examples: \end{itemize} \vfill \hfil\includegraphics[width=1.2cm]{diamond.pdf} \hfil\includegraphics[width=1.2cm]{cross.pdf} \hfil\includegraphics[width=1.2cm]{hexagon.pdf} \par \vfill \hfil\includegraphics[width=0.9cm]{V_triomino.pdf} \hfil\includegraphics[width=0.9cm]{T_tetromino.pdf} \hfil\includegraphics[width=0.9cm]{L_tetromino.pdf} \hfil\includegraphics[width=0.9cm]{P_pentomino.pdf} \vfill \eject \title{Hard diamond model} \hfil\includegraphics[height=6cm]{diamonds.pdf} \vfill \eject \addtocounter{page}{-1} \title{Hard diamond model} \hfil\includegraphics[height=6cm]{diamonds_color.pdf} \vfill \eject \title{Hard diamond model} \vfill \begin{itemize} \item Idea: treat the vacancies as a gas of ``virtual particles''. \item Can prove crystallization for a large class of lattice models. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Hard rods on a lattice} \begin{itemize} \item Model: rods of length $k$ on $\mathbb Z^2$. \end{itemize} \hfil\includegraphics[height=5cm]{rods.pdf} \vfill \eject \title{Hard rods on a lattice} \begin{itemize} \item Can prove that, when $k^{-2}\ll\rho\ll k^{-1}$, the system forms a nematic phase. \item For larger densities, one expects yet another phase, in which there are tiles of horizontal and vertical rods. \item \high{Open Problem}: generalization to 3 dimensions. \end{itemize} \vfill \eject \title{Conclusion} \begin{itemize} \item Statistical Mechanics establishes a \high{link} between \high{Microscopic} theories and \high{Macroscopic} behavior. \item (In equilibrium) it consists in studying the properties of special probability distributions called \high{Gibbs Measures}. \item Even simple models pose significant mathematical challenges. \item Still, much can be said about \high{lattice models}, even though there are many problems that are \high{still open}! \end{itemize} \end{document}