Mean field theories

• Introduction
• Weiss mean field theory for the Ising model
• Critical exponents of Weiss mean field theory for the Ising model
• Hubbard-Stratonovich mean field theory for the Ising model
• Variational methods
• Bragg-Williams approximation for the Ising model
• Bragg-Williams approximation for the Potts model
• Mean field theory for the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model
• Mean field theories for fluids
• Van der Waals equation
• Mean field theories for weakly interacting systems
• Introduction to Landau theory
• Assumptions of the Landau theory
• Landau theory for the Ising model
• First-order phase transitions in Landau theory
• Liquid crystals
• Introduction: Ginzburg criterion
• Functional partition function and coarse graining
• Coarse graining procedure for the Ising model