Read online: learnthermo.org
A free, rigorous course on thermodynamics, from the foundational principles to advanced and modern applications. Written for undergraduates and graduate students, and freely readable in the browser (French, English + 12 langages).
Each lesson is paired with a library of worked exercises — statements, hints, and full solutions.
Exercise detail pages are draft-safe: they stay out of search indexes and the
sitemap until the exercise source explicitly contains \seoready{true}. Add
that command inside an exercise block only after its statement and solution
have completed editorial review.
Part I — Foundations (undergraduate level)
- Introduction and history — motivation and the historical development of thermodynamics.
- Fundamental concepts — state variables, equilibrium, and equations of state.
- First and second laws — energy conservation, reversibility, and entropy.
- Fundamental relations and changes of variables — the mathematical structure of thermodynamic potentials and Legendre transforms.
- Calorimetric and thermoelastic coefficients, phase transitions, and heat engines — applying the formalism to gases, phase diagrams, and cyclic machines.
Part II — Structure and advanced topics
- Differential geometry in thermodynamics — a more formal, geometric view of thermodynamic spaces.
- Maxwell's demon, endoreversible cycles, thermoelectricity, and non-equilibrium thermodynamics — classic and modern extensions beyond equilibrium.
- Climate and thermodynamics, quantum thermodynamics — applications connecting the formalism to contemporary physics.
Quantum Mechanics — A Modern Introduction (source) — a companion course on quantum mechanics, by Jean-Philippe Bruneton (Université Paris Cité, France).
© 2026 Jean-Philippe Bruneton. All rights reserved.