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1. History of thermodynamics. Why was the second law proposed before the first?
2. Common student misconceptions in probability or thermal physics.
3. History of probability and its relation to games of chance.
4. Equivalence of different statements of the second law.
5. Examples of perpetual motion machines of the second/first kind.
6. A Carnot engine yields the maximum amount of work, but the time over which this work is delivered is irrelevant. What about the maximum amount of power?
7. Maxwell's demon is an imaginary creature that James Clerk Maxwell created to contradict the second law of thermodynamics. Read all about it.
8. The second law of thermodynamics is violated in small systems? Why? What are some experimental examples?
9. Quasiergodic hypothesis.
10. How can we measure entropy on a computer or in the laboratory?
11. Landau's contributions to thermal and statistical physics.
12. What is the current status of technology for refrigerators, air conditioners and similar devices? What do the EPA standards for efficiency mean?
13. Are streaks in sports meaningful?
14. Application of probability to finance.
15. Probability of rare (extreme) events. Some useful references include
    • B. Schmittmann and R. K. P. Zia, "'Weather' records: Musings on cold days after a long hot Indian summer," Am. J. Phys. 67, 1269-1276 (1999). A relatively simple introduction to the statistics of extreme values. Suppose that some breaks the record for the 100 meter dash. How long do records typically survive before they are broken?
    • S. Redner, "Random multiplicative processes: An elementary tutorial," Am. J. Phys. 58, 267-273 (1990).
16. Application of thermodynamics to economics.
17. Entropy and information theory.
18. Interpretation of entropy as algorithmic complexity.
19. Renormalization group. Applications to the Ising model or percolation.
20. More sophisticated forms of mean-field theory.
21. Infinite-range Ising model.
22. Parastatistics.
23. Article by Robert Swendsen on how to properly account for the distinguishability of classical particles.
24. What is convection and how does it differ from diffusion? How do the time scales differ?

The paper should be typed and approximately 4-5 pages long. The references should be annotated and not all from the internet. Make sure that you support your statements. Please discuss your topic choice with the instructor for suggested references.