D. Landau, S. Tsai, and M. Exler, Am. J. Phys., 72 (10), 1294-1302 (2004).
The authors describe a Monte Carlo algorithm for sampling the density of states directly by doing a random walk in energy space. The probability of a microstate is computed at any…
H. Maris and L. Kadanoff, Am. J. Phys., 46 (6), 652-657 (1977).
The renormalization group theory of continuous phase transitions is described in a way suitable for an undergraduate statistical physics course.
J. Lekner, Am. J. Phys., 50 (2), 161-163 (1981).
The van der Waals equation of state together with Maxwell’s equal area rule, leads to a transcendental equation for the densities of the two coexisting phases. Gibbs solved that this…
V. Bagnato and D. Kleppner, Phys. Rev. A, 44 (11), 7439-7441 (1991).
The authors demonstrate the possibility of Bose-Einstein condensation of an ideal Bose gas confined by one- and two-dimensional power-law traps. Problem 6.66 in Gould & Tobochnik is…
R. Mehr, T. Grossman, N. Kristianpoller, and Y. Gefen, Am. J. Phys., 54 (3), 271-273 (1985).
A simple experiment for the demonstration of percolation problems is reported. Measurements were performed on a sheet of conducting paper after randomly cutting out small square…