Twentieth Century Concepts of Space, Time, and Matter

Phys. 107

Welcome to the Phys. 407 home page. The material on this page, as well as all course information will be made available on CTOOLS to registered students.

This course is intended to provide a picture of space, time and matter, as interpreted by physicists. The course is divided roughly into two sections. The first deals with Special and General Relativity and the structure of space-time. The second half is concerned with the quantum theory and the structure of matter. The required books for the course are:

Einstein and Infeld - The Evolution of Physics

Hoffmann - Relativity and its Roots

Gribben - In Search of Schrodinger's Cat

Oerter – The Theory of Almost Everything

Unfortunately, there is no single text that is suitable for the course. The required texts will be supplemented with hand-out material.

This course is intended as an introduction to concepts in physics. The major goal of this course is to leave students with a sense that a general knowledge of physics can be gained without any advanced mathematical background and to encourage them to continue to broaden their scientific knowledge.

Prerequisites for the course are elementary algebra and geometry, plus the ability to use a scientific calculator. Some knowledge of trigonometric functions would also be helpful, but will be taught in the course. The homework will require some mathematical calculations as will the exams. Quantitative reasoning involving both mathematical and deductive arguments will be stressed throughout the course. The exams will always have sufficient choice to enable students to demonstrate their understanding of the course material, even if mathematics is not their strong point.

Course Outline

I. Galilean Relativity, Newton's Laws of Motion, Concepts of force, inertial mass, gravitational mass. (3 weeks).

II. Field concept: Gravitational fields, Electric and Magnetic fields, Ether . (1 lecture)

III. Special theory of relativity. Concepts of absolute versus relative quantities. Simultaneity, length, and time intervals as relative concepts. Twin paradox, space-time diagrams --- interdependence of space and time. (2 1/2 weeks)

IV. General theory of relativity. Principle of equivalence, reinterpretation of equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass. Geometry of space-time and its dependence on matter. Models of Universe, Black Holes. (1 1/2 weeks)

V. Transverse and longitudinal waves. Electromagnetic spectrum. Standing waves. Superposition and interference. (2 lectures)

VI. Origins of the quantum theory. Work and Energy. Blackbody radiation and the "ultraviolet catastrophe." Photoelectric effect. Bohr theory of the hydrogen atom. (4 lectures)

VII. De Broglie waves. Schrodinger's equation. Probability interpretation of the wave function. Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Return to the hydrogen atom --- quantum numbers. Angular momentum and symmetry. Spin, Pauli exclusion principle, periodic chart. (6 lectures)

VIII. EPR Paradox, Bell's Inequalities. (1 lecture)

IX. The Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics. Symmetry and degeneracy. Classification of particles. Quark Model of the Baryons. Leptons. Unified theories of the fundamental forces. String theory. (5 lectures)