SWARTHMORE PHYS 115 - Phys 115 Syllabus

Unformatted text preview:

Physics 115 Introduction and SyllabusFall 20021 IntroductionThe course title for Physics 115 is Quantum Applications and Optics which implies a combinationof the “old” 115 and 116 seminars. As you may know, this seminar has been evolving in recentyears to reflect a curriculum that emphasizes quantum mechanics early in its program. The mostrecent presentation of the 113 seminar had all but completed the textbook Principles of QuantumMechanics by Ramamurti Shankar. In the most recent run, Phys 14 is also teaching out of Shankar.One result of these curricular changes is that the material once covered in the “old” 115 is nowbeing taught in 113 and there is more flexibility for seminar students in 115 to explore other fields.For example, last year we spent half the semester finishing off Shankar (the b ook, that is) andthe rest studying quantum optics with the classic text The Quantum Theory of Light by RodneyLoudon. Some of last year’s 115 students were also taking the optics seminar Phys 116 and sothere was some overlap in their studies. I can’t say that the decision to combine the 115 and 116seminars was entirely due to the connection between the subjects but I think there is a sense thatmodern optics leads naturally into the application of quantum theory. Actually, I doubt that wewill have time to study photons from the optics point of view (statistics, scattering) but we willstudy photon polarization from the quantum point of view.2 OverviewThe first half of the semester will be optics. This is both practical and theoretically logical.Practical in the sense that a facility in classical optics theory is tested in the graduate entranceexams (Nov.?) so we had better study this material first. From a logical point of view this makessense in that a program for studying classical optics often ends with the photon and one of the firstthings we will study in quauntum applications is photon p olarization. Since we will only devotehalf of the semester to optics, we won’t be able to “do everything”, but we should be able to coverthe big topics; E&M waves, geometrical optics, reflection, refraction, dispersion, diffraction andinterference. If we have time, I would like to delve into statistical optics. Then we will continue onto review a selection of topics in quantum mechanics as applied to atomic and molecular physics(stuff like NMR, ammonium molecules in an electric field, hyperfine splitting in Hydrogen). We willalso cover a few new topics (scattering, multielectron atoms, quantized radiation field) and applytime-dependent perturbation theory to the interaction between electromagnetic fields and chargedparticles.13 TextbooksUnfortunately, there is no single textbook that treats both optics and the applications of quantummechanics, so I chose two standard texts. Optics by Eugene Hecht is a useful text for thoroughderivations of class ical optics at the introductory level. This level is appropriate for learning a lot oftopics in a short period of time with a “quick and easy” way of describing the theory. On the otherhand, this text does not serve as an entry into research level theory. For quantum applications we’llbe using A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics by John Townsend. This is a good sourcefor both review and for new topics. I hope you find the text, language and style familiar and theproblems challenging.4 SeminarThe seminar will be structured pretty much the same as other seminars. Work will be split be-tween problem sets and presentations. The presentations can be a problem from the textbook,from another book, a made-up problem, or a side topic that is related to the chapter(s). Thesepresentations will b e assigned to a person and I expect that each student will have a presentationfor each seminar. I want the presentations in a document form that I will collect at the beginningof the seminar for grading. You don’t have to give a copy of the solution to everyone, but youcertainly can and I would encourage it. I would like you to treat these presentations like you woulda problem (many of them will be simply that, some problem from a book) and so your “hand-in”is a clearly presented solution to the problem. In other words, even a “topic” presentation can b epresented as a problem with a solution. For example, a topic might be “Discuss nonlinear polar-izations and s ec ond harmonic generation.” You could present a solution to the wave equation, asderived from Maxwell’s equations, where the polarization is a source term and one of the solutionsis a wave at twice the frequency of the “incident” harmonic wave. Of course, I e xpect that if youare having trouble envisioning your presentation as a problem/solution, then you would come seeme well before the seminar and I’ll give you a better idea of my thoughts when I put the assignmenttogether. Finally, the material that is covered in the presentation will be on the exams. I will tryto keep the presentations very close to the subjects in the chapters.Of course, problem sets are a really important part of the 115 seminar. The number of problemsdepends on the difficulty of the chapter but I figure assignments will range from five to twelveproblems each week. I will expect everyone to work on all of the problems even though individualsare assigned to present many of them. Solutions to the problems are to be handed in on the Mondayafter the seminar so people have a chance to discuss then in the seminar. As mentioned above ,the individually assigned problems are to be handed in at the beginning of the seminar. If you arestill having trouble with a problem (i.e., you haven’t solved it by seminar time), then at least beable to articulate the nature of the difficulty (like, I cant solve this integral or I have a matrix thatseems wrong because of . . . . ) and hand it what you have done. With some problems, you maynot even know where to start the solution. For this reason, people need to start working well inadvance of the seminar. Of course, you know all of this. It would be best if we could have a quickcheck sometime on Thursday afternoon to see if people are getting into the problems.2Last, but not least, is the subject of break goodies. I will make up a schedule at the first meetingand try to include a reminder with each seminar assignment.5 Syllabus# Day Topic Reading1 9/6 Waves, review of E&M, E&M waves, Hecht chapters 2 & 3simple radiation, dispersion theory2 9/13 Scattering, propagation,


View Full Document

SWARTHMORE PHYS 115 - Phys 115 Syllabus

Download Phys 115 Syllabus
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Phys 115 Syllabus and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Phys 115 Syllabus 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?