PHY453 First Day Handout January 20, 1999

Unique # 55085 and 55090 MWF 10:00-11:00 RLM 7.104

Instructor: Greg O. Sitz, Office: RLM 10.313, Office Hours: Monday 8:30-10:00, Tuesday 4:30-5:30, Phone: 471-0701, Email: gositz@physics.utexas.edu,.

Grader: Jin-Wook Jung, Email: jwkjung@physics.utexas.edu

Lab TA: Philip Kromer, 471-7487, Email: flip@physics.utexas.edu

Text: Modern Physics from to Z⁰ by Rohlf ( John Wiley & Sons, 1994). We will cover Chapters 1 thru 7 in detail, and some of 8 and 9 as time permits.

Brief Description: This class is an introduction to two topics which underlie much of modern physics: relativity and quantum mechanics. The material will be presented within a historical context but from a contemporary viewpoint. The course has both a classroom and laboratory component, which are intended to compliment each other. The development of the ability to perform more involved experiments and to write up the results in a coherent, complete manner is a primary goal of this class.

Grading: The breakdown in credit is as follows: Laboratory reports 40%, Homework 15%, In-class exams 30%, Final exam 15%.

Hour Exams: There will be three in-class exams, tentative dates are February 19, March 26, and April 23.

Final Exam: The Final will be a comprehensive exam similar in format to the hour exams and will count for 15% of the total grade. It is required to pass the course. The final is Thursday, May 13, 2:00-5:00 PM.

Homework: will be distributed and due approximately weekly and will count for 15% of the final grade. You are encouraged to discuss homework with anyone you wish; however, all written homework must be prepared independently (by you). Homework is due at the end of class on the specified day. Homework that is between 1 minute and 1 week late will be accepted with a 50% penalty. Homework later than this will not be accepted.

Coaching: Available on the fifth level of RLM by the elevators. The coaches are graduate students; remember, they work for you. Hours: 9:00-5:00.

Other: The last date to drop the course without possible academic penalty is February 15, 1999. The last day to drop the course for academic reasons is March 29, 1999.

Please notify me of any modification/adaptation you may require to accommodate a disability-related need. You will be requested to provide documentation to the Dean of Students' Office, in order that the most appropriate accommodations can be determined. Specialized services are available on campus through Services for Students with Disabilities.

Advice: For some tips on learning physics and on university life in general, see:

http://wwwrel.ph.utexas.edu/~larry/how/how.html

Alternatives: This document as well as other course related material is available (this may take a few days) at:

http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~gositz/phy453.html

Syllabus

         Week of January 18:             Introduction, electrons,atoms
                 January 25:             Distribution functions, statistical mechanics ofideal gases
                 February 1:             Thermal radiation, Planck's constant
                 February 8:             Photoelectric effect, Bohr atom
                 February 15:            Finish Chapter 3, Test 1
                 February 22:            Special Relativity, transformations
                 March 1:                Energy and momentum
                 March 8:                Applications of Special Relativity
                 March 15:               Mathamatics of General Relativity, string theory
                 March 22:               Applications continued, Test 2
                 March 29:               Matter waves and the uncertainty principle
                 April 5:                Rutherford scattering
                 April 12:               The Schrodinger wave equation
                 April 19:               One-dimensional problems, barriers
                 April 26:               Harmonic osciallator, Test 3
                 May 3:                  Three-dimenstional problems