Undergraduate Course: Advanced Materials Physics (PHYS11054)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Advanced Materials Physics will cover High Energy Density Physics: The properties of matter at high pressure, temperature, and density. Most of the normal matter in the universe exists at such conditions, contained in the interiors of stars and planets. Such conditions also occur during explosion, impact, and in nuclear energy systems.
The course emphasizes the nature of high-pressure and high-temperature phenomena and their origin in basic physical principles. We will discuss the transformation of simple materials subjected to extreme conditions, high-pressure crystal structures, the nature of molecules at high density, plasmas and electronic transformations.
|
| Course description |
* Simple solids under hydrostatic compression
* Nonlinear elasticity
* Solid-solid phase transitions; crystal structures of high-pressure phases; coordination, bonding changes
* Thermodynamics of phase transitions; Clausius-Clapeyron relation; Enthalpy and Gibbs energy criteria
* Insulator-metal transitions; high-pressure electrides
* Molecules at high density; ordering; polymerization
* Thermal effects from absolute zero to high temperature
* Melting; liquids at high density; normal vs. re-entrant melting curves
* Shock waves; Rankine-Hugoniot equations
* The plasma state; ionization; degenerate matter
* Practical equations-of-state
|
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of extreme conditions in a thermodynamic framework.
- Discuss the nature of structural phase changes.
- Draw and interpret phase diagrams of simple materials over large range of conditions.
- Explain the origin and consequences of nonlinear elasticity.
- Derive the physics of shock waves from first principles.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Total Hours: 100
(Lecture Hours 12, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6, Online Activities 2, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Revision Session Hours 3, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 70) |
| Keywords | AdMatPh |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stewart McWilliams
Tel: (0131 6)50 5273
Email: R.S.McWilliams@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Wendy Hisbent
Tel: (0131 6)50 5783
Email: w.hisbent@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage