Instructor: Zhen Wu Office: 361 Smith Hall Office Hours: 2:30 – 3:30 pm TTh and by appointments

INTRODUCTION TO MODERN PHYSICS

Course No. 21:750:316

Textbook R. A. Serway, C. J. Moses and L. A. Moyer, Modern Physics, 3rd ed. Thomson, 2005.

Syllabus

Learning Goals: This course intends to introduce students to some of the most impor- tant physics developed since 1900. Students are expected to learn special relativity and quantum physics. They will learn the elements of quantum mechanics. Emphasis is placed on helping students develop a physical understanding of the less intuitive con- cepts than those they have been accustomed to in the General Physics. This course will give students a good preparation to move on to subsequent more advanced courses in physics. The course will be assessed by exams and quizzes together with the homework.

CHAPTER 1 SPECIAL RELATIVITY I (Topics covered: The Michelson-Morley Experiment. Postulates of Special Relativity. Consequences of Special Relativity: Moving clocks run slow, length contraction, rela- tivity of simultaneity (front clock lags), The Lorentz Transformation.) Homework: # 5, 7∗, 9∗, 11, 16∗, 17, 19∗

CHAPTER 2 SPECIAL RELATIVITY II (Topics covered: Relativistic Momentum and Energy, Relativistic Form of Newton’s second Law. Collisions and Particle Decays in Relativistic Mechanics. Nuclear Binding Energy.) Homework: # 5, 9∗, 11∗, 15, 17, 20∗, 23∗

Quiz # 1 (chs. 1, 2)

CHAPTER 3 THE QUANTUM THEORY OF LIGHT. (Topics covered: Blackbody Radiation. The Rayleigh-Jeans Law and Planck’s Law (On- line). Light Quantization and the Photoelectric Effect. The Compton Effect, Particle- Wave Complementarity. Homework: # 2∗, 4∗, 11∗, 13, 20∗, 23

1 CHAPTER 4 THE PARTICLE NATURE OF MATTER.

(Topics covered: Rutherford α-particle scattering, The Composition of Atoms. The Bohr model. Bohr’s Correspondence Principle, Experimental confirmation of Atomic Energy Levels: The Franck-Hertz Experiment.)

Homework: #15, 19∗, 21, 24∗

CHAPTER 5 MATTER WAVES.

(Topics covered: de Broglie waves. The Davisson-Germer Experiment. wave packet and Group velocity, The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The Wave-Particle Duality.)

Homework: # 1∗, 3,9∗, 11∗, 17, 19, 23∗, 25

Midterm Exam (chs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

CHAPTER 6 QUANTUM MECHANICS IN ONE DIMENSION.

(Topics covered: Wavefunction and its physical meaning, The Particle in a Box. The Finite Square Well. The Quantum Oscillator. Expectation Values. Observables and Operators, Eigenvalues and Eigenfunction, Sharp and Fuzzy Observables.)

Homework: # 3∗, 7, 11∗, 13, 31∗, 33

CHAPTER 7 TUNNELING PHENOMENA.

(Topics covered: The Square Barrier. Barrier Penetration, Examples of Tunneling in Quantum Mechanics.)

Quiz # 2 (chs. 6, 7)

CHAPTER 8 QUANTUM MECHANICS IN THREE DIMENSIONS.

(Topics covered: Particle in a Three-Dimensional Box. Central Forces and Angular Momentum. Space Quantization. Quantization of Angular Momentum and Energy. Hydrogen atom.)

Homework: # 1∗, 5∗, 7, 11, 13∗, 17∗, 19

CHAPTER 9 ATOMIC STRUCTURE.

(Topics covered: Orbital Magnetism and the Normal Zeeman Effect. Electron Spin. The Spin-Orbit Interaction. Exchange Symmetry and the Exclusion Principle. The Periodic Table.)

Homework: # 3∗, 9∗, 11∗, 13∗

2 CHAPTER 10 STATISTICAL PHYSICS

(Topics covered: Indistinguishability. Maxwell-Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein, and Fermi- Dirac Distributions. Pauli Exclusion Principle.)

Homework: # 6∗, 7∗ CHAPTER 11 MOLECULAR STRUCTURE.

(Topics covered: Bonding Mechanisms. Molecular Rotation and Vibration.)

Homework: # 5∗, 11∗ CHAPTER 12 THE SOLID STATE.

(Topics covered: Bonding in Solids. Classical Free-Electron Model of Metals. Band Theory of Solids. Semiconductor Devices. Lasers.)

Final Exam

————————————————————————– Asterisked homework problems will be collected. Final grade = homework (5%) + quizzes (15% each) + midterm exam (30 %) + final exam (35%).

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