Preliminary Syllabus and Schedule

When

Lectures

Textbook Reading

Homework

Week 1:

Aug. 30 – Sept. 06

Relativity
Michelson-Morley Expt; 
Postulates of Relativity; 
Time Dilation;  Lecture 1
Particle Lifetimes;
Length Contraction; 
Lorentz Tranformation; 
Velocity Addition  Lecture 2

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 , 1.5 
1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.14

1.9, 1.14, 1.16, 1.22, 1.25, 1.29, 1.34, 1.36, 1.42, 1.46

Week 2: 

Sept. 11 - 13

Doppler Effect; Relativistic Mass; 
Relativistic Momentum;    Lecture 3
Relativistic Energy; 
Massless Particles  Lecture 4

2.1-2.11

2.2, 2.8, 2.17, 2.24, 2.38, 2.43

Week 3: 

Sept. 18 - 20

Basic Atomic Physics
Electron;  Atom  Lecture 5
Quantization of Light; 
Black Body Radiation; 
Photoelectric Effect;  Lecture 6
X-rays, Bragg Diffraction; 
Compton Effect

3.1-3.9, 4.1-4.7

 3.16, 3.30, 3.41, 4.1, 4.7, 4.15, 4.23

Week 4: 

Sept.25 - 27

Atomic Spectra; 
Balmer/Rydberg Formulae;  Lecture 7
Bohr Model of Atom; 
X-ray Spectra;  Lecture 8
de Broglie Waves

5.1-5.9, 6.1-6.3

 5.4, 5.7, 5.14, 5.24, 6.3, 6.9

Week 5: 

Oct. 03 - 04

Quantum Mechanics

Particle/Wave Duality;  Lecture 9
Wave Function; 
Two-Slit Experiment;  Lecture 10
Waves;  Uncertainty Principle;

6.3 - 6.10

6.14, 6.21, 6.28, 6.38, 6.42, 6.47, 6.49

Week 6: 

Oct. 10 - 16

 

Standing Waves;  Lecture 11
Particle in a Box;  Lecture 12
Schrodinger Equation  Lecture 13
and its Solutions

 

7.1 - 7.10

7.1, 7.12, 7.18, 7.27, 7.39, 7.49

Week 7: 

Oct. 18 – 23

Quantum Mechanical Description of Atoms 
3-d Schrodinger Eq.;  Lecture 14
Central Force Problem; 
Quantized Ang. Mom.

8.1 - 8.6

8.4, 8.12, 8.17, 8.26

Oct.25

First Midterm

 

 

Week 8: 

Oct. 30 - Nov. 01

Hydrogenic Energy Levels 
and Wave Functions;  Lecture 15
Shells and Ions;

8.7 - 8.10

8.36, 8.43, 8.49, 8.52

Week 9: 

Nov. 06 - 08

Spin of Electrons 
Independent Electrons;  Lecture 16
Pauli Exclusion; 
Low-Z Elements;  Lecture 17
Periodic Table

9.1 - 9.6, 10.1 - 10.8

9.2, 9.12, 9.14, 9.18, 10.7, 10.31

Week 10: 

Nov.13 - 15

Excited States of Atoms; 
Stationary States;  Lecture 18
Absorption/Emission; 
Lifetimes/Selection Rules;  Lecture 19
Lasers

10.9, 11.3-11.10

10.38, 11.3, 11.13, 11.24, 11.32

Week 11: 

Nov. 20- 29.

Nuclear Physics
Nuclear Force;  Lecture 23
Binding Energy Formula; 
Radioactive Decays

16.1 - 16.7, 17.1 - 17.5

16.5, 16.19, 16.25, 17.5, 17.20, 17.29

Nov.27

Second Midterm

 

 

Week 12: 

Dec. 04 - 07

Nuclear Reactions; 
Molecules and Solids
Chemical Bonds;    Lecture 20
Solid Matter;

17.6, 12.1 - 12.7

 17.38, 12.6, 12.16, 12.24, 12.30

Week 13:

Dec. 11-13

Crystals and Noncrystals; 
Electron Energy Levels in Solids; 
Conductors and Insulators   Lecture 21

 Lecture 22

13.1 - 13.6

13.2, 13.10, 13.28, 13.31, 13.32

Exam Week
Dec. 15 -22

Final Exam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yuhang Ren, Assisant Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Hunter College and City University of New York, Aug. 2005.