PH32020: Statistical physics and soft matter
[Page last updated: 23 April 2025]
| Academic Year: | 2025/26 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Physics |
| Credits: | 5 [equivalent to 10 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 100 |
| Level: | Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
- Semester 1
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| Assessment Summary: | EXOB 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
- Written examination (EXOB 100%)
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
- Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
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| Requisites: |
Before taking this module you must take PH22006 OR ( take AT LEAST 1 MODULE FROM {PH20013, PH20060} AND take AT LEAST 1 MODULE FROM {PH20017, PH20063} AND take AT LEAST 1 MODULE FROM {PH20029, PH20067} )
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| Learning Outcomes: |
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
calculate how weak interactions between molecules affect the thermodynamics of gases;
calculate thermodynamic properties of strongly interacting systems from simple microscopic models;
describe the structure, phase behaviour, and properties of polymers, colloids and liquid crystals;
describe the principal structural and relaxational properties of solid, liquid, and soft matter glasses in terms of simple models.
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| Synopsis: | You will develop your knowledge and understanding of statistical mechanics and study how thermal fluctuations affect the structure and properties of condensed matter systems such as polymers, colloids and liquid crystals, on length scales ranging from the atomic and molecular to the macroscopic.
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| Content: | Statistical Physics (10 hours): Perturbative cluster expansions in nearly ideal gases. Exact solutions of simple models for strongly interacting systems: the lattice gas and the one-dimensional Ising model of magnetism. Polymer statistics, entropic rubber elasticity, and elastic free energies.
Soft matter (10 hours): Introduction and overview: Characteristic features, sedimentation, Brownian motion and random walks. Colloids: Diffusion, the Stokes-Einstein relation. Interacting colloid particles: phase behaviour, crystals and glasses. Polymers: Chemical structure, models for the conformations of polymers - freely-jointed chain, freely-rotating chain, excluded volume effects. Concentrated polymer solutions. Surfactants.
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| Course availability: |
PH32020 is Compulsory on the following courses:
Department of Chemistry
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
Department of Physics
- USPH-AFB24 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAB16 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKB16 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM24 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM16 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM16 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM17 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Professional and Research Placements (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM25 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with research placement (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM17 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Theoretical Physics with Study year abroad and Research Placement (Year 4)
PH32020 is Optional on the following courses:
Department of Chemistry
- USSC-AFB10 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics) (Year 3)
- USSC-AFB10 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Physics) (Year 3)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Physics stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB10 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology) (Year 3)
- USSC-AFB10 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Chemistry) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Chemistry stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM10 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM10 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Physics) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Physics stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Physics stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
Department of Physics
- USPH-AFB26 : BSc(Hons) Mathematics and Physics (Year 3)
- USXX-AAB04 : BSc(Hons) Mathematics and Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USXX-AKB04 : BSc(Hons) Mathematics and Physics with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFB20 : BSc(Hons) Physics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAB02 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKB02 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFB22 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAB10 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKB10 : BSc(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM20 : MPhys(Hons) Physics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM12 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM03 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM04 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Professional and Research Placements (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM22 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM14 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM10 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AKM11 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Professional and Research Placements (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM23 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with research placement (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM15 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Astrophysics with Study year abroad and Research Placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM21 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with research placement (Year 3)
- USPH-AAM13 : MPhys(Hons) Physics with Study year abroad and Research Placement (Year 4)
- USPH-AFM26 : MSci(Hons) Mathematics and Physics (Year 3)
- USXX-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Mathematics and Physics with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USXX-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Mathematics and Physics with Year long work placement (Year 4)
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Notes: - This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2025/26 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2026/27 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2025/26.
- 好色tv and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
- Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
- Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.
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