Physics 2213A Modern Physics

Professor Elisa RiedoHowey Physics BuildingOffice N1074-6580

elisa.riedo@physics.gatech.edu

Welcome to Modern Physics!

Modern Physics will take you from the 19th century up to the 21st! It’s all the ideas that have changed the world!

Some more information

Class web page:

http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/riedo/Teaching/Modern_Physics/web_page.htm

I have a list of your email addresses, but feel free to send me an email with your GA Tech email address. And it’d be nice if you’d also include your major, telephone number, and anything else you’d like to tell me.

This way, I can tailor the course to your needs and let you know if we have to, say, cancel a class.

Course required text: Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers (3rd ed.) by Thornton & Rex

3,000 Solved Problems in Physics (Schaum's Solved Problems) by A.Halpern The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Phillips Feynman (Author) Physics by Marcelo Alonso (Author), Edward Finn (Author) Thermal Physics by C. Kittel and H. Kroemer (Freeman)

Other helpful books:

For problems, you will find plenty of problems on the book

My lectures will be a mix of PPT slides and White board!

All my Power Point lectures will be on my web site:

http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/riedo/Teaching/Modern_Physics/web_page.htm

(click on “Lectures”).

Homework

Homework (4) will be assigned by using WebAssign

You can work with others on homework (I encourage you to do so!), but write it up yourself.

Quizzes

There will be 4 "one-hour" quizzes.The quiz dates are indicated on the calendar

Grading

Homework (4) 10%

Quiz (4) 80%

Final Exam 10%

No one’s perfect. So we give lots of partial credit.

But you must say what you’re doing! Write a lot of text in addition to equations in your homework and quizzes.

The Importance of Having Class

In the past, people who have skipped a lot of classes have received very bad grades. Conversely, people who’ve come to most or all of the classes nearly always receive A’s and B’s.

You should come to class because there’s a lot that I’ll say that won’t be in the Power Point files. And which will be on the quizzes.

Understanding the ideas of each lecture requires the knowledge of the previous lectures.

If you keep up, you won’t end up

looking like this the night before

the quizzes!

Modern Physics has very some unintuitive ideas.

In fact, this course will hit you with more than any other course you’ll ever take. The goal is simply to expose you to them, and later courses will cover them on more detail.

Program: The birth of modern physics TRex Ch 1 (1 lecture)

 Special relativity 1, 2, & 3 TRex Ch 2 (6 lectures)

 The basis of quantum mechanics TRex Ch 3 (3 lectures)

 The Bohr atom TRex Ch 4 (3 lectures)

 Quantum mechanics 1 & 2 TRex Chs 5, 6 (9 lectures) 

The hydrogen atom TRex Ch 7 (3 lectures)

 Atomic physics TRex Ch 8 (3 lectures)

 Statistical physics TRex Ch 9 (6 lectures)

 Molecules and solids TRex Ch 10 (6 lectures)

 Semiconductor Theory and Devices Ch 11

Nuclei and nuclear interactions TRex Ch 12 & 13 (optional reading)

 Particle physics TRex Ch 14 (optional reading)

 General relativity TRex Ch 15 (optional reading)

 Cosmology TRex Ch 16 (optional reading)