Physics 305: Modern Physics, Section 1, 3 cr: University of Idaho: 2008 Spring
and
The course mottos: very reassuring I think. We could also add: ``In science we are slaves to the truth---only error can set us free.''
Sections
This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Any changes will be announced in class as well as made on this page.
which is the page you are maybe viewing right now.
This page is the preliminary syllabus and includes
syllabus items
and
tentative schedule.
This page is/will be/may be linked from the official physics department
course web page.
We are going to read the whole book---864 pages---but I won't lecture on
all that---much will simply be assigned readings.
ER
does have some problems. First of all it's a bit dated since
it is unrevised since 1985.
Modern physics
hasn't changed, but the context of
modern physics
sure has.
There will be no references to what is happening right now---e.g.,
Bose-Einstein condensates,
nanotechnology,
string theory,
etc.
Second, it is undoubtably long---but that's really a virtue once
you get into it.
Third, its interpretation of
quantum mechanics
(which doesn't affect any results) is not the one I hold.
I believe that my view is more in line with the majority of
contemporary quantum physicists---of which I am not one.
I believe it is good to complement the standard modern physics topics
with some contemporary physics at the light and fluffy level.
It has some demerits too.
Unrevised since
2004,
it is already beginning to date---who remembers
The Simpsons
anyway---they're so 15 seconds ago.
Also Brian Greene
(1963--) is a string theorist and a string theory proponent and
his book goes into all that.
But
string theory
may turn out to be the wrong path---the
Tao which is not
the Tao---in which case
a lot (but not all) of
Greene's
(i.e., the book's) interest may go proof--er poof---one day---but
at present
string theory
is top dog on the frontier of physics.
See string theory
(Wikipedia, 2007dec09) of an overview of the theory and controversy.
But the adjective modern
in the context of physics courses does NOT mean recently discovered physics.
Modern physics
is modern in the sense
that
Picasso is a the modern painter
and
Hemingway is a modern writer.
Modern physics is the
physics of roughly the first half of the
20th century--or
from the fiducial discovery
of X-rays in 1895 to
the discovery of the
Moessbauer effect in
1957.
Much of the physics of
modern physics is
still considered correct subject to inevitable qualifications: e.g.,
in interpreting
quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics
is, in fact, is almost synonymous with
modern physics, but
a little
special relativity
is thrown in too.
However, this is not in a sense a course in
quantum mechanics.
We tend to skirt the heavy math and formalism, and emphasize the
applications in
atomic physics,
molecular physics,
condensed matter
physics (solid-state physics),
and
nuclear physics
at the ground-floor entry level.
We will do a little depth, but the course is mainly aimed at breadth---getting
to know the buzzwords
and a bit more.
Heavy mathematical grinding in the formalism of
quantum mechanics
and detailed studies of specialized topics are for later courses.
Much of the course will be learning the physics qualitatively.
A few in-depth mathematical questions will occur along the way---and they
will figure prominently on exams.
Some advanced topics that are
modern physics in
the Picasso sense are EXCLUDED as just too advanced: e.g.,
quantum electrodynamics (QED),
quantum field theory,
general relativity,
and a whole lot more really.
There are standard items of courses in
modern physics which
are there for historical and heuristic reasons.
For example, the Bohr atom
is a wrong theory.
It gives some right answers, but mostly wrong ones and it doesn't generalize
beyond the one-electron atom case.
But the Bohr atom
is easy to understand and was an important step on the road to
quantum mechanics.
It's sort of an accident of
nature that it exists---but
it's not an accident that
Niels Bohr (1885--1962)
found it: he had the right ingredients and it was there to be found.
In general, modern physics
is more abstract than
classical physics---but classical physics really pretty abstract too, we are
just more used to its abstractions.
One just has to get used to dealing with entities for which mental pictures,
though very useful, will always be a bit inadequate and trust---but not
completely trust---abstract laws, principles, and formulae.
It's no surprise to you that this is a pretty hard course.
It's hardness will be in the breadth and amount of reading (with
comprehension) that you will have to do.
But has I always say, it's nothing like organic chemistry.
It all helps understanding eternity and infinity.
As well as understanding home.
There are 3 kinds of readings: ER chapters (18), ER appendices (18 not
counting Appendix S), and Greene chapters (16 counting the
chapter notes as part of the chapter and the preface as
part of chapter 1).
Each of the kinds is worth 5 % of the total grade for a total of 15 % of the
total grade.
Students report to the instructor (preferably by email)
when you have completed a reading and 1 point will be assigned for
each reading: there 18, 18, and 16 points, respectively, for the ER chapters,
ER appendices, and Greene chapters.
In the Tentative Schedule below,
a schedule is given for the readings.
It is strongly urged that the students keep up to this schedule.
But on the other hand, you'd really like to have had brush
with all this stuff in the years to come.
Try to grind out 10 pages a day.
Maybe not even half.
The style of the lecturing will be to skip stuff readings cover and
is easy to understand and needs no instructor explication---this means
readings have to be done and as much in advance as possible.
You should also be warned that instructors and books can both
propagate misconceptions---a part of everyone's scientific
life is clearing up misconceptions they acquired long ago from
some formerly ``revered'' authority.
Some ER chapters, most ER appendices, and all of Greene
are NOT
going to be lectured on.
Naturally, what is not lectured on is going to less weighted in exams---I do
try play fair.
There is one for each of the fiducial lectures of the course.
The homeworks are NOT handed in.
But they are counted: 1 point for each: so 15 points in total.
The students report when they have completed homeworks (preferably
by email) and their points will be assigned.
After the homework is completed, students are free to look at the
posted solutions.
Homeworks count for 5 % of the total grade.
It is strongly urged that students keep up to the schedule on the homeworks.
Typically about 50 to 70 % or more of the exam questions
will be drawn from
the homeworks or, in the case of the FINAL, past exams also.
Questions that reappear on the exams
might be tweeked a bit from previous versions.
New questions on exams will be similar to the homework questions.
Some will be challenging.
The in-class exams cover the material up to some cut-off point
that will be announced in class and on the course web in the
Tentative Schedule .
The in-class tests are each worth 20 % of the total grade for a total
of 40 % of the total grade.
The final is worth 40 % of the total grade.
The tentative dates for the exams are:
The in-class exams will consist of multiple-choice questions
and a few full-answer questions that will be mostly mathematical.
The final will be like a double-class exam in terms of questions of
various kinds.
The exams are closed-book.
Cell phones MUST be turned off and be out of sight.
There are NO scheduled review days, but the instructor
may review some mathematical problems on request: remember the
solutions to homework problems will be posted.
Make-up exams are possible, but students must ask for them
promptly and avoid knowing anything about given exams.
Attendance is NOT kept and NO marks are assigned
for attendance.
Students are encouraged to keep good attendance.
There are absolutely NO extra credits.
Letter grades will be assigned following the
UI catalog---which allow instructors some freedom of
interpretation.
The instructor uses a curve to automatically
assign letter grades during the semester.
There is no fixed scale.
The final grades are decided on by the instructor directly.
Students can always ask the instructor for their current
mark record and letter grades. Queries by email
are probably best for this.
The instructor will submit midterm grades and final grades
as scheduled in the
academic calendar.
Remember that after an instructor has submitted final grades,
any adjustment (except for purely clerical error) is extremely
difficult.
Students should make any queries about their final grades before
the instructor submits them.
http://physics.nhn.ou.edu/~jeffery/course/c_modern/modern.html
A very good book in many respects I believe.
It covers almost all the topics of standard
modern physics
with some depth.
But not hard depth since it is very descriptive---some topics just
need some verbosity to be understood.
Most conventional modern physics books tend to be a bit superficial.
I believe (a long with many others) that this is an excellent
popular account of fundamental issues in contemporary physics
(which is the physics of right now).
There's no law against including more recent physics if it can be
wormed in somehow.
Not in this course.
Eternity and infinity from our small platform.
Earthrise from Apollo 11, 1969jul16.
Credit:
NASA.
The mathematically-inclined reader that
Greene keeps addressing in the
notes is you.
Cold feet are setting in already before day 1.
If the going gets way tough,
we may cut out some chapters or chapter sections.
I'll indicate such cuts on the
Tentative Schedule below.
The instructor is NOT going to lecture on everything covered
in the readings.
The instructor will also skip when he's clueless---well
you know what they say: when the going gets tough, it's time to
bug out.
_________________________________________________________________
Exam Date Solutions (posted post-exam)
_________________________________________________________________
Exam 1 Feb25 M Exam 1 solutions
Exam 2 Apr25 F Exam 2 solutions
Final Exam May07 W Final Exam solutions
The final is at 7:30--9:30 am---not my call---in the regular class room
as specified by
Final exam schedule for 2008 Spring.
_________________________________________________________________
An equation sheet will be provided: it's
the same equation sheet that comes with the homeworks.
Calculators are permitted for calculational work only.
ER chapter readings 5 % no drops
ER appendix readings 5 % no drops
Greene readings 5 % no drops
homeworks 5 % 1 drop
2 in-class exams 40 % no drop
1 comprehensive final 40 % no drop
Each in-class exam is worth 20 % of the final grade.
Beware of aliens bearing grades.
No dated schedule has ever been adhered to by the instructor.
So there are no dates in this tentative schedule.
However, we have 16 weeks in the semester (not counting spring break) and we will lose about a week of classes for in-class exams, the missing first Monday, and holidays (i.e., Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day).
So about 15 weeks and 45 lecture class hours.
So I've divided the course into 15 fiducial lectures.
Each lecture will be covered in about a week.
I'm going to try to provide photocopied and/or posted lecture notes.
It's inefficient I think to make the rate-determining steps of a class the speed at which I can write things on the board and the speed at which students can transcribe these faux pearls.
If more time is needed to complete a lecture, it won't be completed---the material is all assigned reading anyway---unless I really, really want to complete the lecture.
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