Download Physics 241 Syllabus Spring 2017

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Syllabus: Physics 241 Introduction to Modern Physics
Professor Marshall Onellion
(office) 263-6829
Office hours:
[email protected]
MF: 10am- 1pm, W: 10am- noon, or by appointment
Text: Kenneth Krane, “Modern Physics,” 3rd edition. We will cover the material in most chapters
of Krane and also material not in this book.
Class: MWF 8:50-9:40am; Discussion: Wednesday 12:05-12:55pm, all in Chamberlin room
2241.
Our textbook will be used for the homework problems and some ideas. However, your primary
source of ideas will be my lecture notes. This class is not a history lesson; it is meant to teach
you what you need for current physics and engineering. There are three new ideas in this class:
Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics and Relativity. We spend seven weeks on Quantum
Mechanics, three weeks on Statistical Mechanics and four weeks on Relativity. I next provide a
detailed outline of the ideas, followed by examples. On pages 4 & 5 I provide a detailed list of all
lectures.
Quantum Mechanics- Weeks 1-7
Ideas: Schrödinger equation and idea of probability; Quantum wells and tunneling; Fermions &
Bosons; Commutators, operators and collapse of the wave function; simple harmonic oscillator
and rigid rotator.
Examples:
Atoms & Molecules: Hydrogen atom; vibrations and rotations of molecules; atomic
spectra; Spin and orbital angular momenta.
Solid: Photoelectric effect; Electronic energy levels & bandgap; heat capacity versus
temperature; Thermionic and electric field emission devices; Magnetic moments and some
magnetism basics; Superconductivity basics; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) basics;
examples of Nanostructures.
Statistical Mechanics – Weeks 8-10
Ideas: Entropy; Maxwell- Boltzmann statistics; Fermi- Dirac statistics; Bose- Einstein statistics
Examples:
Atoms & Molecules: Distribution of atom/molecule velocities.
Solid: Blackbody radiation; Electrical conductivity in metals; Electronic specific heat;
Paramagnetism; Mean-field ferromagnetism.
Astrophysics: Light pressure & gravitational collapse in stars.
Relativity – Weeks 11-14
Ideas: Michelson- Morley experiment; Special relativity; Minkowski geometry; Non-Euclidean
geometry; Newtonian gravity; General relativity; Schwarzschild solution; Cosmology.
Examples:
Atoms, Solids: Doppler shift, time dilation and length contraction.
Nuclear, Particle, Astrophysics: Hubble red shift; Gravitational lensing; Cosmic
Microwave Background; Big Bang; Inflation; Dark Matter; Universe slowing down & speeding
up; Dark Energy; Gravitational waves.
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Grade algorithm
* Class attendance
5%
* (7) Writing assignments
10%
* Chapter quizzes
5%
* Homework
* Mid-term
20%
20%
* Final
40%
* Extra Credit (!)
5%
Range: Can be from 100% (perfect attendance) to 0%
Attendance taken each class and discussion meeting.
Due same days as even week homework assignments
(weeks 2, 4, 6,…). More details provided below.
Quizzes given in first class meeting of each week.
They encourage reading lecture notes and chapters in
advance.
Given in discussion Wednesday 3/15, and covers Quantum
Mechanics
Comprehensive at 7:45-9:45am, May 10 in room
selected by Registrar.
See below for details.
Writing assignments
You select the journal article, read it and write a one-two page summary of the ideas and what
you learned. The librarian in the Physics Library (http://www.library.wisc.edu/physics/) knows
of your assignments and is happy to help you select articles. Each article must include at least
one topic from the material we just covered. So, for example, the first article must include a topic
from weeks 1 & 2, the second article a topic from weeks 3 & 4, and so forth. I will be sending
you examples of good and bad ways to write such summaries. The first example will include a
checklist of what to make sure is included and what mistakes to avoid. I will be using coarsemesh scoring, namely:
Perfect = 10/10, good = 8/10, pretty good = 6/10, fair = 4/10, poor = 2/10, terrible = 0/10.
Lecture Notes
Lecture notes will be provided on the course website. I will write lecture notes for each chapter.
Feel free to download and copy the lecture notes, or not, as you choose.
Discussion Meetings
These are for homework, writing questions & tips, plus elaboration on the key ideas. Attendance
is mandatory, taken, and counts toward your grade. Attendance is taken both for our class and
our discussion meetings. In the discussion meetings I will go through each and every homework
problem and help get you started if you find difficulty in starting the problem.
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Homework Assignments
Week Due
Problems
1
1/18 no homework due
*2
1/25 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.10, 1.14
3
2/1
4.2, 4.4, 4.6, 4.8, 4.10, 4.14, 4.18, 4.32, 4.34, 4.38
*4
2/8
3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8, 3.10, 3.12, 3.18, 3.20, 3.30, 3.32
5
2/15 5.2, 5.6, 5.10, 5.12, 5.22, 5.24, 5.28, 5.30, 5.36, 5.38
*6
2/22 7.4, 7.6, 7.10, 7.14, 7.18, 7.22, 7.24, 7.26, 7.28, 7.32
7
3/1
11.12, 11.14, 11.16, 11.18, 11.20, 11.22, 11.24, 11.26, 11.38, 11.40
*8
3/8
11.42, 11.48, 11.50, 11.52, 11.54
9
3/15 7.4, 7.6, 7.14, 7.18, 7.20, 7.22, 7.24, 7.26, 7.28, 7.34
*10 3/29 8.2, 8.4, 8.8, 8.12, 8.14, 8.16, 8.20, 8.24
11
4/5
no homework due
*12 4/12 10.2, 10.6, 10.8, 10.12, 10.16, 10.18, 10.22, 10.26, 10.28, 10.34
13
4/19 2.6, 2.8, 2.12, 2.20, 2.26, 2.30, 2.38, 2.42, 2.54, 2.56
*14 4/26 no homework due
(*) Writing assignment also due. Writing and homework are due Wednesdays in the discussion
meetings.
Lectures & Discussions Rules
I base the rules below on the research in the most effective way you can use your time in our
lecture & discussion meetings. My references include:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/lecture-me-really.html
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3029713/the-best-way-to-remember-something-take-notes-byhand
The rules are simple. You will not use electronic devices of any sort in our meetings. If you
choose to take notes, and I strongly urge you to do so, you will do so with paper and pen/pencil.
The reason for these rules is simple- you benefit more from our lecture & discussion meetings if
you take notes and do so using paper and pen/pencil. That said, if you have a specific need for an
assistive device, please let me know and I will gladly accommodate you.
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Quantum Mechanics
This part of the course covers the material present in parts of Krane, Chapters 1, 3-5, 7-9, and 11.
Chapter 6, the Rutherford model, is mentioned, but this is a history lesson and not modern
physics. I also cover material not in Krane. The goal of this part of the course is for you to have a
working knowledge of quantum mechanics and how it is used in modern physics & engineering.
Lecture
Topic(s)
1 (1/18)
2 (1/20)
3 (1/23)
4 (1/25)
5 (1/27)
6 (1/30)
7 (2/1)
8 (2/3)
9 (2/6)
10 (2/8)
11 (2/10)
12 (2/13)
13 (2/15)
14 (2/17)
15 (2/20)
16 (2/22)
17 (2/24)
18 (2/27)
19 (3/1)
20 (3/3)
21 (3/6)
Failures of classical physics.
Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Probability density. Schrödinger equation.
Steps and barriers. Tunneling.
Simple harmonic oscillator. Vibrational energy levels.
Conjugate variables and commutators.
Rigid rotor molecules. Rotational energy levels.
Orbital and spin angular momenta
Fermions and bosons
Hydrogen atom
Atomic spectra
Photoelectric effect
Thermionic and electric field emission devices
Electronic energy levels and bandgaps
Heat capacity
Magnetic moments
Paramagnetism
Magnetic Resonance
Superconductivity- 1911- 1986
Superconductivity- 1986- present
Nanostructures
Nanostructures
Statistical Mechanics
In this part of the course I cover material in Krane, Chapter 10 and material not in the text. The
goal of this part of the course is for you to know there are three types of statistics used in current
science & engineering and to see examples of each so you have practice using each.
Lecture
Topic(s)
22 (3/8)
23 (3/10)
24 (3/13)
25 (3/15)
26 (3/17)
27 (3/27)
28 (3/29)
29 (3/31)
30 (4/3)
Entropy. Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics
Fermi-Dirac statistics
Bose-Einstein statistics
Kinetic theory of gases
Blackbody radiation
Electrical conductivity in metals
Electronic specific heat
Gravitational collapse in stars; Electron & neutron degeneracy; white dwarfs and
neutron stars
Bose-Einstein condensate(s)
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Relativity
In this part of the course I cover material in Krane, Chapters 2 and 15, plus material not in the
textbook. The goal of this part of the course is for you to learn and become comfortable with the
notation used in relativity and the new ideas that have emerged since Albert Einstein’s
pioneering work in 1905.
Lecture
Topic(s)
31 (4/5)
32 (4/7)
33 (4/10)
34 (4/12)
35 (4/14)
36 (4/17)
37 (4/19)
38 (4/21)
39 (4/24)
40 (4/26)
41 (4/28)
42 (5/1)
43 (5/3)
Michelson-Morley experiment; Aether; Special Relativity postulates
Special relativity 4-vectors; tensors; metric; Non-Euclidean geometry
Lorentz transformation in different circumstances
Time dilation; length contraction; Doppler shift
Relativistic dynamics I
Relativistic dynamics II
Hubble red shift; Gravitational lensing
Cosmic microwave background; Big Bang theory
Inflation; Gravitational waves
Dark matter; Universe slowing down & speeding up
Dark Energy; current cosmology
Review for final
Review for final
Extra Credit
I list below homework assignments for Chapters 12-14 of Krane. If you get a 100% score on
them, your overall class score goes up by 5%, if a 80% score then your overall class score
increases by 4%, and so on. This is- and I emphasize this- after the grading scale has been
established, so you getting a higher grade does not cause any of your classmates to get a lower
grade. We will not cover the material in class. I am available to help you with this material and
these homework problems. This is a way that you can raise your grade through your own efforts
and learn worthwhile physics at the same time. Further, for those of you who may find these
topics in Krane useful, such as nuclear engineering, this is a way to work with the grader and
myself to insure you are prepared for your next courses.
Chapter
Problems
12
12.6, 12.8, 12.12, 12.16, 12.22, 12.24, 12.26, 12.28, 12.32, 12.36
13
13.2, 13.6, 13.8, 13.14, 13.16, 13.18, 13.22, 13.24, 13.28, 13.34
14
14.2, 14.4, 14.6, 14.8, 14.10, 14.12, 14.14, 14.26, 14.28, 14.30
To get full credit you must show your work. Simply stating an answer will not get you much
credit.