Instructor: Mark Newman
Office: 322 West Hall
Office hours: Thursdays 2-4pm
Email: [email protected]
Grader: Justin Wedes
Email: [email protected]
Problem session leader: Robert Wilson
Email: [email protected]
Description: This course provides an introduction to the physics of the 20th and 21st centuries. The first half of the course deals with the fundamental theory of quantum mechanics, which underlies essentially all of recent physics. The second half deals with applications of quantum mechanics, including atomic physics, statistical and condensed matter physics, nuclear physics and particle physics.
Textbook (required): Modern Physics, 5th edition, Paul A. Tipler and Ralph A. Llewellyn, Freeman, New York (2008), ISBN 0-7167-7550-6. There is also an accompanying web site that goes with the book here. The web site was actually created for the old fourth edition of the book, but the editions are similar enough that the web site is still useful. The publisher also has a "preview" web site for the new edition here, which you can look at if you're interested.
Course work and grading: There will be problem sets most weeks. They will be handed out on Fridays and due in a week later in class. Due dates are noted on the schedule below. No late homeworks will be accepted. The problem sets will also be available in electronic form for download from this web site no later than the Friday morning on which they are handed out.
There will be one mid-term and a final. The mid-term will take place on Wednesday, February 20 from 11am to 12pm in 1230 USB (the usual time and place). The final will take place on Tuesday, April 22 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm in 1230 USB (the usual classroom). Both exams will be open-book, meaning you may bring your copy of Tipler & Llewellyn, but you may not use written notes or solutions to coursework problems. Grade for the course will be 35% on the problem sets, 30% on the mid-term, and 35% on the final.
Problem sets
Course schedule:
| Date | Topic | Reading | On-line resources | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Jan. 4 | Intro and concept review | Relativity review | Take-home math quiz | |
| Monday, Jan. 7 | Quantization of mass and charge | 3.1 | ||
| Wednesday, Jan. 9 | Black body radiation | 3.2 | ||
| Friday, Jan. 11 | Photoelectic and Compton effects | 3.3-3.4 | Homework 1 handed out | |
| Monday, Jan. 14 | Atomic spectra | 4.1 | ||
| Wednesday, Jan. 16 | Rutherford scattering | 4.2 | Animation of Rutherford scattering | |
| Friday, Jan. 18 | The Bohr model of the atom | 4.3 | Animation of Bohr model | Homework 1 due, Homework 2 handed out |
| Monday, Jan. 21 | No class | Martin Luther King Day | ||
| Wednesday, Jan. 23 | X-ray spectra | 4.4-4.5 | Animation of x-ray production | |
| Friday, Jan. 25 | De Broglie waves | 5.1-5.2 | Homework 2 due, no new homework this week | |
| Monday, Jan. 28 | Wave functions and wave packets | 5.3-5.4 | Animation of a wave packet | |
| Wednesday, Jan. 30 | The uncertainty principle | 5.5-5.7 | ||
| Friday, Feb. 1 | The Schrodinger equation | 6.1 | Homework 3 handed out | |
| Monday, Feb. 4 | The square well | 6.2 | ||
| Wednesday, Feb. 6 | Pure states and combinations | 6.3 | Combination of states applet | |
| Friday, Feb. 8 | Operators | 6.4 | Homework 3 due, Homework 4 handed out | |
| Monday, Feb. 11 | The simple harmonic oscillator | 6.5 | Solution of the harmonic oscillator | |
| Wednesday, Feb. 13 | Reflection and transmission | 6.6 | ||
| Friday, Feb. 15 | The potential barrier | Potential barrier applet | Homework 4 due, no new homework this week | |
| Monday, Feb. 18 | Review session | Summary of topics for exam | ||
| Wednesday, Feb. 20 | Mid-term exam | Open-book, but no class notes allowed | ||
| Friday, Feb. 22 | No class | |||
| Winter Break | No class | Have a great break! | ||
| Monday, Mar. 3 | Quantum mechanics in 3D | 7.1 | ||
| Wednesday, Mar. 5 | The hydrogen atom | 7.2 | ||
| Friday, Mar. 7 | Angular momentum | 7.3 | Homework 5 handed out | |
| Monday, Mar. 10 | Spin | 7.4-7.5 | ||
| Wednesday, Mar. 12 | More than one electron | 7.6 | ||
| Friday, Mar. 14 | The periodic table | 7.7-7.8 | Homework 5 due, Homework 6 handed out | |
| Monday, Mar. 17 | Statistical mechanics | 8.1 | ||
| Wednesday, Mar. 19 | Quantum statistics | 8.2-8.3 | ||
| Friday, Mar. 21 | The Fermi gas | 8.5 | Homework 6 due, Homework 7 handed out | |
| Monday, Mar. 24 | Structure of solids | 10.1 | ||
| Wednesday, Mar. 26 | Electrical conduction | 10.3-10.4 | ||
| Friday, Mar. 28 | Magnetism, band structure | 10.5-10.6 | Homework 7 due, Homework 8 handed out | |
| Monday, Mar. 31 | Structure of the nucleus | 11.1-11.2 | ||
| Wednesday, Apr. 2 | Nuclear decay | 11.3-11.4 | ||
| Friday, Apr. 4 | The liquid drop and shell models | 11.5-11.6 | Liquid drop model handout | Homework 8 due, Homework 9 handed out |
| Monday, Apr. 7 | Fundamental particles and forces | 12.1-12.2 | ||
| Wednesday, Apr. 9 | Conservation laws and operators | 12.3 | ||
| Friday, Apr. 11 | Symmetries and quantum numbers | 12.4 | Homework 9 due | |
| Monday, Apr. 14 | Review session | Summary of topics for exam | ||
| End of classes | ||||
| Tuesday, Apr. 22 | Final exam | List of practice problems for exam | 1:30pm–3:30pm in 1230 USB |