Review: Waves & the wave equation, superposition, wave packets, interference, diffraction, Maxwell's equations, light as an electromagnetic wave; Relativity: Classical notions of relativity, Michelson-Morley experiment, postulates of special relativity, Lorentz transformations, Minkowski space, spacetime diagrams, relativistic energy & momentum, invariant mass & invariant lengths, energy-mass conversion & binding energy, relativistic collisions; "Old" Quantum Mechanics: Quantization of electric charge & discovery of the electron, blackbody radiation, Rayleigh-Jeans law & the “UV catastrophe”, Planck’s theory of quantized radiation, photoelectric effect, X-ray physics & the Compton effect, atomic spectra, Rutherford’s experiment, the Bohr model of the atom, the Franck-Hertz experiment; "New" Quantum Mechanics: De Broglie’s hypothesis, probabilistic interpretation of the wave function, Schrodinger equation in 1D, expectation values & operators, simple systems in 1D (square well, harmonic oscillator, barriers & tunneling), Schrodinger equation in 3D, hydrogen atom solutions, intrinsic angular momentum, the Stern-Gerlach experiment, total angular momentum; Atomic & Molecular Systems: Quantum mechanics of multiple particles, the periodic table, chemical bonds, atomic transitions (absorption & scattering), stimulated emission; Nuclear Systems: Basic properties of nuclei, nuclear stability & decay, nuclear reactions, fission & nuclear energy, fusion (i.e. how the sun shines), radioactive dating, nuclear magnetic resonance & imaging; Elementary Particles & Fundamental Interactions: Antiparticles & experimental evidence for their existence, the “Standard Model” of particle physics, symmetries & conservation laws, the quark model, experimental evidence for the Standard Model; Cosmology: Introduction to general relativity, the Big Bang cosmological model, experimental evidence for the Big Bang model
Have I lost you yet? I just got the syllabus for one of my classes in the fall, Modern Physics, & it made me totally excited for classes to start up again. :-) I know, I'm a huge nerd, but this is my passion. This is my element. I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Anyway, nothing too excited for you guys I guess, but I thought I'd share my excitement.
I bought the textbook for the class, too, I found it on Amazon.com for $5! And it has a $200 list price! I got it ridic cheap. :-) But then I also just spent $150 on my Linear Algebra book too, &I still have 3 more classes I need books for. Why are textbooks so expensive? Are they made with some sort of precious metal?
Sorry there's not much else to write about. I'm a little busy with things. :-P
