COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

PHY 215 Thermodynamics and Modern Physics

Student Preparation:

The student sould be in at least MTH 234, the 3rd calculus course. For most students this can be a first semester Sophomore year course. It can be taken at the same time the student takes the second semester introductory course, PHY 184 or PHY 294H. PHY 215B is the CBI version of the same course which is available in the Summer Semester as well as in the Fall and Spring.

Prequisites:

PHY 183 or PHY 193H

When Offered:

Fall and Spring, the CBI version is also offered in the Summer Semester.

Course Content:

a. Heat and the First Law of Thermodynamics
b. Kinetic Theory
c. Second Law Thermodynamics
d. Entropy and irreversibility
e. Black body radiation
f. Special relativity
g. Atomic radiation
h. Hydrogen atom
i. Particles and waves
j. Schroedinger equation
k. Angular momentum quantiazation
l. Atomic physics
m. Pauli pronciple
n. Nuclear physics
o. Radioactivity
p. Solids and construction
q. Quarks and leptons

PHY 321 and PHY 422 Classical Mechanics I and II

Student Preparation:

  • Three semesters of Introductory Physics. Either PHY 183 and 184 plus PHY 215 (or the CBI equivalent) or the honors sequence, PHY 193H and 294H plus PHY 215.

  • Three semesters of calculus, MTH 132 and 133 plus MTH 234 (or the Honors alternatives, MTH 152H, MTH 153H and MTH 254H) with MTH 235 either as a prerequisite or concurrent (or the Honors alternative, MTH 255H). Either of the acceptable fourth courses, MTH 235 or MTH 255H, includes differential equations.

    • Prequisites:

    PHY 215 and MTH 235 or MTH 255H.

    When Offered:

    A student may take the first semester of this course, PHY 321, as early as the second semester of the sophomore year, after the above prerequisites have been completed. The second half of the sequence will be offered in the Fall Semester.

    Course Content:

    PHY 321

    a. Vectors, coordinate systems
    b. Review of elementary mechanics: Newton's Laws, kinetic and potential energy, elementary examples
    c. Oscillations
    d. Gravitation, gravitational field and potential
    e. Dynamics of a particle in a central force field, angular momentum, Kepler problem
    f. Dynamics of a system of particles, conservation laws for an isolated system, classical theory of scattering

    PHY 422

    a. Motion in nonintertial reference frame, centrifugal and Coriolis forces
    b. The Lagrangian method, Hamilton's principle, generalized coordinates, Euler-Lagrange equations
    c. Dynamics of a rigid body, inertial tensor, Euler's equations of motion, Euler angles, general motion of a symmetric top, the rolling disk
    d. Theory of small vibrations, normal modes, molecular vibrations
    e. Continuum mechanics, vibrating strings, theory of sound

    LB/PHY 415 Methods of Theoretical Physics

    This course may be counted as one of the math electives required for a major in Physics.

    Student Preparation:

    In addition to the prerequisites below, it is recommended that students have completed MTH 235 or MTH 255H. This course is particularly useful when taken before PHY 471/472 (quantum physics) and/or PHY 481/482 (electricity & magnetism).

    Prequisites:

    Math: LBS 220 or MTH 234 or MTH 254H (or concurrently>
    Physics: LBS 271 or PHY 183 or PHY 193H
        and also LBS 272 or PHY 184 or PHY 294H

    When Offered:

    This course is taught every spring semester.

    Course Content:

    Mathematical methods as applied to physical problems in mechanics, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics. Topics include power series expansions, multiple integration, vector calculus, Fourier series, the method of Frobenius, ordinary and partial differential equations, eigenvector problems, coordinate transformations, and complex analysis. Applications include Newtonian mechanics, rigid body dynamics, heat ∓ fluid flow, electrostatics, circuits, harmonic motion, and wave propagation.

    PHY 471 and PHY 472 Quantum Physics I and II

    Student Preparation:

    Students should have completed at least MTH 235, the 4th calculus course.
    For most students the first of these courses, PHY 471, is a first semester Junior year course. It is a required course for all B. S. students. The sequel, PHY 472, is an elective course, but a highly recommended one for students considering graduate school after the B. S. is completed.

    Prequisites:

    PHY 215 Thermodynamics and Modern Physics; PHY 321 Classical Mechanics; MTH 235 (or 255H).

    When Offered:

    PHY 471 is offered in the Fall. The sequel, PHY 472, is a Spring Semester course.

    Course Content in PHY 471 Quantum Physics I:

    a. Superposition, evidence for its requirement
    b. The wave function
    c. Schroedinger equation
    d. Interpretation of solutions
    e. Measurement
    f. Square-well bound states
    g. One-dimensional steady state
    h. Transmission and reflection
    i. Free-Particle solutions
    j. Harmonic oscillator
    k. Spherically symmetric potentials
    l. Hydrogen atom
    m. Spherical harmonics

    Course Content in PHY 472 Quantum Physics II:

    a. Operator formulation and Hilbert Space
    b. Operator solution for the harmonic oscillator
    c. Matrix mechanics
    d. Angular momentum
    e. Raising and lowering operators
    f. Addition of angular momentum
    g. Perturbation theory
    h. Zeeman effect
    i. Stark effect
    j. Time-dependent perturbation theory
    k. Scattering

    PHY 481 and 482 Electricity and Magnetism I and II

    Student Preparation:

  • Three semesters of Introductory Physics either at the regular introductory or Honors level. A typical student will take the sequence in the senior year , after completing courses such as 1 semester each of Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, and Statistical Mechanics.

  • Four semesters of calculus, MTH 132 plus MTH 133 plus MTH 234 Plus MTH 235 (or the Honors alternatives, MTH 152H, MTH 153H, MTH 254H, and MTH 255H) plus two semesters of advanced level mathematics beyond differential equations (which is in the 4th semester of calculus), preferably some vector analysis and boundary value problems.

    • Prequisites:

    PHY 215 Thermodynamics and Modern Physics and MTH 235 (or 255H).

    When Offered:

    A typical student may take the first semester of this sequence in the first semester of the junior year, after the above prerequisites have been completed. However, it is recommended that other physics courses, such as quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, be taken the junior year and this sequence be deferred until the senior year.....after two additional semesters of mathematics have been completed.

    Course Content in PHY 481 Electricity and Magnetism I:

    a. Charges and Coulomb's Law, electrostatic fields and electric potential
    b. Gauss' Law and applications
    c. Electrostatic field energy
    d. Boundary value problems in electrostatics, capacitance
    e. Electric dipoles and multipoles, torques and forces
    f. Polarization in dielectric matter, displacement field D
    g. Gauss' Law in dielectrics and applications
    h. Boundary conditions at dielectric interfaces
    i. Microscopic and macroscopic polarization
    j. Electric currents and equation of continuity
    k. Magnetic forces between currents
    l. Biot-Savart Law, steady currents, Ampere's Law and applications
    m. Magnetic vector potential
    n. Electromagnetic forces and Faraday's Law of induction
    o. Applications of Faraday's Law, inductances

    Course Content in PHY 482 Electricity and Magnetism II:

    a. Alternating current circuits
    b. Magnetic field energy
    c. Magnetic dipoles and multipoles, torques and forces
    d. Magnetization in materials, Amperian currents
    e. The magnetic intensity field H, Ampere's Law in magnetized materials
    f. Paramagnetism, diamagnetism, ferromagnetism
    g. Maxwell's equations in a vacuum, displacement current
    h. Electromagnetic plane waves, linear and circular polarization
    i. Maxwell's equations in matter
    j. Poynting's Theorem and Maxwell stress tensor
    k. Energy and momentum of plane waves in isotropic matter
    l. Reflection, refraction and transmission of plane waves at material interfaces
    m. Group velocity and dispersion
    n. Waveguides and mode propagation
    o. Electromagnetic wave generation
    p. Vector and scalar potentials, gauge transformations
    q. Lorentz gauge, wave equations for potentials
    r. Retarded potential solutions
    s. Radiation from harmonic time variation of charge and current densities
    t. electric dipole radiation fields, radiated power distribution

    B. S. Physics Degree Requirements