MODERN PHYSICS
Phys 225, Spring 2006.

Syllabus 

Instructor: Aurel Bulgac


Top 


Syllabus


This syllabus is tentative, the amount of material and detail I shall cover will depend very much on how fast we shall proceed. I plan to cover Special Relativity (chapter 1), Waves and Particles I: electromagnetic radiation behaving as particles (chapter 2), Waves and Particles II: matter behaving as waves (chapter 3), Bound states: simple cases (chapter 4), Unbound states: obstacles, tunneling and particle-wave propagations (chapter 5), Quantum mechanics in three dimensions and the hydrogen atom (chapter 6) and hopefully some material from Spin and atomic physics (chapter 7).


Week/Date
To Read 
Tentative Topics 
Homework
Solutions appear as links
     
  3/27 - 3/31   Ch. 1.1-1.3
  Appendix A
  Einstein's postulates, Simultaneity,
  Length contraction, time dilation.

  4/3 - 4/7   Ch. 1.4-1.6   Lorentz Transformation, twin paradox
  Doppler effect.
Ch. 1: 1, 2, 8, 12, 14, 18
  4/10 - 4/14   Ch. 1.7-1.10   Velocity transformations, dynamics,
  momentum and energy, massless particles.
Ch. 1: 42, 50, 58, 65, 66
           69, 72, 77, 78
  4/17
  4/19

  4/21
  Ch. 1.11-1.12
  Exam 1

  Ch. 2.1-2.2
  The fourth dimension, the light barrier.

   Solutions and an extra discussion

  Photoelectric effect, X-rays.

  4/24 - 4/28   Ch. 2.3-2.5
  Appendix C
  Ch. 3.1-3.3
  Compton effect, Blackbody radiation, etc.

  Two-slit experiment, Matter waves, etc.
Ch. 2: 4, 6, 16, 31, 34
  5/1 - 5/5   Ch. 3.4-3.7   Matter behaving as waves Ch 3:   5, 19, 20, 21, 24,33,      38, 39
  5/8 - 5/12   Ch. 3.6
  Ch. 4.1-4.5
  Fourier transform - another example
  Schroedinger equation, bound states.

  5/15, 5/19

  5/17
  Ch. 4.5, 4.7

  Exam 2
 
  Particle in a box, infinite well.

 

Ch. 4: 6, 7, 10, 16, 26, 27
  5/22 - 5/26   Ch. 4.6, 4.8
  Ch. 5.
  Expectation values, Harmonic oscillator
  Unbound states  
Ch. 4: 34, 35
Ch. 5: 1, 9

  5/29
  5/31 - 6/2
  Memorial day
  Ch. 6
 
  Quantum mechanics in 3D.
Ch. 6: 2, 4, 10
  6/8
  Final Exam   Thursday, June 8-th, 8:30-10:20 am,
  PAB A110.




Top - Syllabus