Physics 3740 : Introduction to
special relativity and quantum mechanics
Schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 11:50-12:40
Location:
NS 202 (Naval Science)
Instructor:
John Lupton, JFB 307 (Phone:
581-6408)
Teaching
Assistant: Kipp van Schooten,
South Physics 301
(kippvs@physics.utah.edu)
UPDATED Tuesday, August 26, 2008. -----------PLEASE BE SURE TO
PRESS RELOAD! -------------
Course
outline
The goal of the course is to provide
you with an introduction to the revolution of physics which occurred at the
onset of the 19th century. Much of classical physics is based on
logical deduction and common sense. As we will see, logical deduction can take
us beyond “common” sense, testing our own understanding of our very own
intuition - why can nothing move faster than the speed of light? How can time
be relative? Why are energy and mass equivalent? How can a particle be a wave
be a particle? How can we be uncertain about seemingly certain things? Why is
our seemingly continuous nature discrete? Modern Physics is about challenging
your own intuition. It is all about invoking the powers of logical, conclusive
deduction. It is about challenging what you are told to be absolute truths by
carefully conceiving counter examples. It is not (primarily) about learning
lots of equations off by heart. I hope you will be able to share some of the
enthusiasm which keeps on driving us professionals over one hundred years
later.
General
remarks
At the last
count, we had 13 physicists, 1 mechanical engineer, 1 chemist, 1 computer scientist, 1
mathematician, and 1 undecided registered for the course, ranging from freshman
to senior. As you will appreciate, it is not trivial to pitch the course to
meet all desires. Fortunately, it’s a small class, so we may be able to make
some adjustments. If you find you’re getting behind, don’t just “bottle it up”,
come and speak to me or the TA.
Recommended
text
Modern
Physics, by P. A. Tippler and R. A. Llewellyn (please take note that there have
been some concerns raised by former students with regard to this book. I think
it’s OK, but you may want to check out the others.) The 5th edition
has only just come out. You may be able to get hold of the 4th
edition instead – I don’t think it is going to make much difference to you (the
5th edition seems to have a better binding).
Further
reading
Modern
Physics, J. Bernstein, Prentice Hall, 2000
Introduction
to Quantum Mechanics, B. H. Bransden and C. J. Joachain, Longman Scientific / Wiley, 1989
Molecular
Quantum Mechanics, P. W. Atkins, Third edition, Oxford University Press 1998.
Modern
Physics, K. Krane, Second edition, Wiley 1996
Concepts of
Modern Physics, A. Beiser, Sixth edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2003
Modern
Physics for Scientits and Engineers, J. R. Taylor,
Second edition, Prentice Hall 2004.
An
Introduction to Quantum Physics, A. P. French, Cambridge University Press,
1984.
Current
reading:
We shall
begin by covering chapter 1.
Weekly schedule
(this is to give you a rough idea of what’s coming):
|
Mon
(8/25) |
Chapter
1-1 |
|
Tues
(8/26) |
Chapter
1-1 |
|
Wed
(8/27) |
Chapter
1-2, 1-4 |
|
Fri
(8/29) |
Chapter
1-4 |
Problem
sheets and handouts
Please help
me to help you – fill in this quick questionnaire
(and hand it to me in the lecture) and let me know what level to pitch the
course at! --- UPDATE: check out results of questionnaire.
These are the
images I showed on the projector in class – they probably won’t be of much use,
but I’ll post them just for completeness sake: SR1,
General
remarks: The problems are designed to get you thinking about the material you
heard about in the lectures (and should encourage you to read along/ahead a
little, too!). I expect attempting all 4 will take 4-6 hours. Some of the
problems may be a little more tricky, so don’t panic, just take this as a
challenge and a possibility to dive further into the material. Don’t forget,
you can still get full marks even if you don’t attempt all of the problems (see
below!). There will not always be perfect agreement between what we cover in
the lecture and the problem sheets. This is an advanced course and you are
strongly encouraged to read along in the text and now and again even run ahead
a little.
Problem sheet 1 –
Solutions
Preliminary
course content and schedule:
|
8/25 M |
L1:
Introduction. Review of classical physics |
Chapter:
1-1 |
|
|
8/26 T |
L2:
Inertial observers / Galilean relativity |
1-1 |
|
|
8/27 W |
L3:
Newton/Galileo/Maxwell |
1-1 |
|
|
8/29 F |
L4:
Michelson-Morely |
1-1 |
|
|
9/2 T |
L5:
Einstein’s Gedankenexperiments |
1-2 |
|
|
9/3 W |
L6:
Relativistic kinematics |
|
HW1 due |
|
9/5 F |
Problems
class (HW1) |
1-4 |
|
|
9/8 M |
L7:
Space-time diagrams |
1-4 |
|
|
9/9 T |
L8:
Space-time diagrams |
|
|
|
9/10 W |
L9: Lorentz transformations |
1-3 |
HW2 due |
|
9/12 F |
Problems
class (HW2) |
1-3 |
|
|
9/15 M |
L10: Lorentz transformations |
2-2 |
|
|
9/16 T |
L11:
Relativistic energy |
2-1 |
|
|
9/17 W |
L12:
Relativistic dynamics |
1-6 |
HW3 due |
|
9/19 F |
Problems
class (HW3) |
|
|
|
9/22 M |
L13:
Paradoxes |
13-1,
13-2 |
|
|
9/23 T |
L14:
Elementary particles |
2-5 |
|
|
9/24 W |
L15:
Accelerated reference frames |
3-1 |
HW4 due |
|
9/26 F |
Problems
class (HW4) |
|
|
|
9/29 M |
L16: Origins
of quantum theory: quantization of charge |
3-3 |
|
|
9/30 T |
L17:
Light – particles or waves? Photoelectric effect |
|
|
|
10/1 W |
L18:
X-ray scattering / Compton effect |
3-4 |
HW5 due |
|
10/3 F |
Problems
class (HW5) |
8-1 |
|
|
10/6 M |
L19:
Introduction to statistical physics / black body radiation |
|
|
|
10/7 T |
L20:
Planck and the black body I |
|
|
|
10/8 W |
L21:
pre-exam review |
|
|
|
10/10 F |
Midterm
I - Note: I will not be in class for
this. |
3-2 (not quite
enough detail in the book) |
|
|
10/20 M |
L22:
Planck and the black body II |
3-2 |
|
|
10/21 T |
L23:
Midterm I discussion |
|
|
|
10/22 W |
L24: The
structure of the atom – Rutherford model |
4-2 |
|
|
10/24 F |
L25: Electronic
structure of atoms – Bohr model |
4-1, 4-3 |
HW6 due
(2 days extra!) |
|
10/27 M |
Problems
class (HW6) |
5-1 |
|
|
10/28 T |
L26: deBroglie matter waves – particle – wave duality |
|
|
|
10/29 W |
Problems
class (HW7) (Kipp will collect the problems before
the class) |
5-3 |
HW7 due |
|
10/31 F |
L27: Wave
packets |
5-5 |
|
|
11/3 M |
L28:
Heisenberg uncertainty principle |
6-1 |
|
|
11/4 T |
L29:
Schrödinger’s postulates I |
|
|
|
11/5 W |
L30: Particle
in a box / infinite potential well |
6-2 |
HW8 due |
|
11/7 F |
Problems
class (HW8) |
6-6 |
|
|
11/10 M |
L31:
Transmission and reflection coefficients of waves I |
6-6 |
|
|
11/11 T |
L32:
Transmission and reflection coefficients of waves II / Tunnel effect |
|
|
|
11/12 W |
L33:
pre-exam review |
|
|
|
11/14 F |
Midterm
II |
|
|
|
11/17 M |
L34:
Finite square well potential (and applications) |
6-3 |
|
|
11/18 T |
L35:
Discuss Midterm II |
|
|
|
11/19 W |
L36:
Double potential well |
6-3 / 6-6
(this combines both chapters. The book does not go into as much detail in
coupled wells – this is just the finite well + tunneling) / 9-2 |
HW9 due |
|
11/21 F |
Problems
class (HW9) |
6-4 |
|
|
11/24 M |
L37:
Expectation values |
6-5 |
|
|
11/25 T |
L38:
Harmonic potential well |
|
|
|
11/26 W |
L39: 3D
Schrödinger equation I |
7-1 |
HW10 due |
|
12/1 M |
Problems
class (HW10) |
7-1 |
|
|
12/2 T |
L40: 3D
Schrödinger equation II |
|
|
|
12/3 W |
L41: Angular
momentum and quantum mechanics |
7-2 (we
probably will not get further than this) |
HW11 due |
|
12/5 F |
Problems
class (HW11) |
|
|
|
12/8 M |
L42:
Hydrogen atom |
|
|
|
12/9 T |
L43:
Magnetic moments of atoms / spin |
|
|
|
12/10 W |
L44: Zeeman effect / Pauli exclusion
principle |
|
|
|
12/12 F |
L45:
Revision |
|
|
Important
dates
Holiday:
9/1, 11/28
Midterm I:
10/10
Fall break:
10/12-10/17
Midterm II:
11/14
Final: 12/18,
10:30-12:30
Some
(helpful?) links
Einstein’s FBI file
David
Morin’s lecture
notes on mechanics and relativity at Harvard.
Most of the
images I show in the lecture are either from the book
or from Wikipedia.
Regarding Boltzmann statistics and temperature, you may want to check
out our recent patent.
Jim
Carrey on Quantum
Mechanics.
Hands-on quantum mechanics in Utah.
You may
like to try this Hyperphysics
website:
Quantum Mechanics and Relativity are the most relevant items.
Recommended
Prerequisites
You’ll probably be OK with the relativity part with high school maths, but we really won’t get round using some more
complex formalisms later on. You shouldn’t be scared by partial differentials,
chain rule, basic differential equations, complex numbers, etc.
Problems class
You are strongly encouraged to participate actively in the
problems class and present your solution to the problem on the board. Besides
allowing you to develop your presentation skills we will also raise your
score for this particular problem by up to a factor of 2 for a correctly
solved problem on the board (you can do this up to 4 times in the semester).
This means less pressure for you in the exams!
Office hours
TA: Kipp van Schooten (kippvs@physics.utah.edu, office South
Physics 304B, 3rd floor), office hours Tuesdays 2:00 – 3:30 pm
(rotunda behind JFB 102).
These office hours are only suggestions!
Let us know if there are any scheduling conflicts.
Homework
There will be 11 sets of homework, typically
consisting of 3 problems. Don’t panic if a problem appears too difficult or if
you really get stuck – the sheet is designed to offer something for everyone!
An additional problem labeled by a (*) allows you to go into more depth and
accumulate extra points (an extra 20 or 30 %, depending on difficulty). I will
hand out the new problems sheets on Fridays. Homeworks
are to be handed in at the lecture on the following Friday. If you can’t
make it to the lecture be sure to post your solutions in Kipp’s
pigeon hole (in room JFB 220) by 12 pm on Wednesday (exception to the
deadline will be stated on the problems sheet).
The marked homeworks will be
returned in the problems class on the following Monday and discussed.
While you are strongly encouraged to interact and
discuss problems with fellow students, the homeworks
count towards your final grade and must be prepared individually.
It is remarkably easy to spot all too intensive collaboration on homeworks!
Exams
There will be two midterm exams and one final exam.
You will be allowed to take one sheet of paper with you to the exams.
There will be no re-sit exams – please make sure you
make it to the exams. Let me know of any scheduling conflicts immediately!
I also intend to do four 10 minute quizzes throughout
the semester. These quizzes will be announced in the lecture before and on the
web page.
Grading Scheme
To a certain extent, grading will be comparative, i.e. your grade will depend on the performance of your peers. If the total points scatter by a factor of 4 (as has previously been the case), it i