Project Description

The methods of statistical mechanics have led to the discovery of many interesting phenomena in the 20th century, for example superconductivity and superfluidity.  One tool of statistical mechanics that is commonly studied by physicists, the Ising model, is a relatively simple model that encapsulates much of the relevant physics of magnetic systems.  In this project, students will be introduced to basic magnetic models and learn how they can be mapped onto a simple model of a polymer in solution.  Students will then use the computational method known as the Monte Carlo method to investigate the phase behavior of these polymer models.

Project Files

Presentation Slides