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Physics 6730
Introduction to relativity and Quantum Mechanics
Evolving Provisional Agenda
Fall Semester 2006
Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4,
Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8,
Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12,
Week 13, Week 14, Week 15 , Week 16
Week 01
1) Wednesday August 23rd
Introduction to class
I) Introduction to special relativity, Lorentz transformations
A) Galilean relativity
B) Electromagnetism
2) Friday August 25rd
B) Electromagnetism continued
C) Measurements of the speed of light, Michelson and Morley experiment
Week 02
3) Monday August 28th
C) Measurements of the speed of light continued: Michelson and Morley experiment
D) Consequences of Michelson and Morley experiment: time dilation and space contraction
4) Tuesday August 29th
E) Space time diagrams
F) Lorentz transform
5) Wednesday August 30th
F) Lorentz transform continued: velocity addition
6) Friday September 1st
Exercises, I will bring hardcopies.
Week 03
8) Monday September 4th (Labor day)
7) Tuesday September 5th
F) Lorentz transform continued: geometry
8) Wednesday September 6th
F) Lorentz transform continued: Causality relation and space-time intervals
G) Consequences: Headlight effect, Doppler effect
9) Friday September 8th
Exercises, I will
bring hardcopies.
Week 04
10) Monday September 11th
II) Relativistic mechanics
A) Introduction: the classical momentum is not conserved
B) Definitions: scalars and 4-vectors
C) 4-velocity
11) Tuesday September 12th
D) 4-momentum
12) Wednesday September 13th
E) Case study: Common exam 2006, exercise 10
13) Friday September 15th
Exercises
Week 05
14) Monday September 18th
F) 2 bodies -> 1 body collision
15) Tuesday September 19th
G) Compton scattering
16) Wednesday September 20th
III) Emergence of quantum physics
A) Introduction
B) Quantization of the electric charge
C) Black body radiation
17) Friday September 22nt
Exercises
Week 06
18) Monday September 25th
C) Black body radiation continued: the failure of classical physics and Planck's law
19) Tuesday September 26th
D) Photo-electric effect (Einstein 1905 paper)
20) Wednesday September 27th
E) Rutherford's experiment and cross section
21) Friday September 29th
Common exam 2006, exercise 1 and other exercises
Week 07
22) Monday October 2nd
Exercises continued
23) Tuesday October 3rd
E) Rutherford's experiment continued
F) Bohr's hydrogenoid atom and application to other systems
24) Wednesday October 4th
F) Bohr's hydrogenoid atom continued
Friday October 6th (Fall Break)
Week 08
25) Monday October 9th
IV) Waves and particles
A) de Broglie's relations
B) Classical wave packets and uncertainty relations
26) Tuesday October 10th
Question session: bring all the class-related questions you would like to see answered before the test!
27) Wednesday October 11th
Midterm 1
28) Friday October 13th
Midterm 1 comments and solutions
Week 09
29) Monday October 16th
B) Classical wave packets and uncertainty relations
C) Probabilities and wave functions
30) Tuesday October 17th
Exercises
31) Wednesday October 18th
C) Probabilities and wave functions continued
D) Schrodinger equation
32) Friday October 20th
Exercises
Week 10
33) Monday October 23rd
E) Infinite square well
34) Tuesday October 24th
35) Wednesday October 25th
F) Finite square well
36) Friday October 27th
Exercises
Week 11
37) Monday October 30th
G) Harmonic oscillator
H) Getting orders of magnitude
38) Tuesday October 31st
I) Transmition, reflection, tunnel effect
39) Wednesday Novermber 1sr
J) Three dimensional Schrodinger equation
40) Friday November 3rd
Exercises
Week 12
41) Monday November 6th
K) Hydrogen atom
42) Tuesday November 7th
V Many particles systems
A) Electron spin
43) Wednesday Novermber 8th
B) Multi-electron atoms and the periodic table
44) Friday November 10th
Midterm 2
Week 13
45) Monday November 13th
46) Tuesday November 14th
47) Wednesday Novermber 15th
Exercises
48) Friday November 17th
Exercises continued
Week 14
49) Monday November 20th
D) Molecules
50) Tuesday November 21th
C) Atomic transitions
51) Wednesday Novermber 22nd
E) Solids
Friday November 24th (Thanksgiving break)
Week 15
52) Monday November 27th
E) Semi-conductors
53) Tuesday November 28th
54) Wednesday Novermber 29nd
55) Friday December 1st
Week 16
VI) Statistical mechanics
56) Monday December 4th
57) Tuesday December 5th
58) Wednesday December 6th