Topics in Modern Physics I, Physics 3401

Text: Rohlf: Modern Physics from a to Z0

• Journey to the small: standard model of fundamental forces and particles, quarks and leptons.
• Distribution functions. Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Gaussian and Poisson distributions. Statistical properties of gas molecules. Temperature and the ideal gas.
• Quantization of electromagnetic radiation. Blackbody radiation. Planck hypothesis. Atomic spectra and the Bohr model.
• Special relativity. Constancy of speed of light. Length contraction and time dilation. Relativistic energy and momentum. Doppler effect. Binding energy. Compton scattering.
• Wave properties of particles and the uncertainty principle. DeBroglie wavelength. Consequences of the uncertainty principle.
• Rutherford scattering and the nuclear atom. Scattering cross section. Impact parameter and closest approach. Scattering fraction. Use of scattering for the investigation of nuclear structure.
• The Schrodinger equation. Concept of the wavefunction. Free particle, particles in infinite and finite box confinements. Barrier penetration. Quantum harmonic oscillator.
• The quantum theory of the hydrogen atom. Examination of the hydrogen solution to the Schrodinger equation without the rigorous details of the approach to the solution. Quantum numbers, angular momentum, intrinsic angular momentum (spin), atomic transitions and selection rules, Zeeman effect.

Topics in Modern Physics II, Physics 3402

Text: Rohlf: Modern Physics from a to Z0

• Atomic spectra and atomic properties. Pauli exclusion principle and the buildup of the periodic table. Coupling of angular momenta. Excited states of atoms. Atoms in external magnetic fields.
• Molecules and molecular spectra. Hydrogen molecule, sodium chloride. Molecular rotations and vibrations. Hydrogen chloride spectrum. Measurement of bond lengths and molecular force constants.
• Nuclear models and nuclear structure. Radioactive decay, nuclear reactions. Nuclear spin. Mossbauer effect. Absorption of nuclear radiation.
• Quantum statistics. Particle distinguishability. Fermions and bosons. Fermi-Dirac and Einstein-Bose distributions. Density of states.
• Masers and lasers. Photon-atom interactions. Stimulated emission and the amplification of radiation.
• Conductors, insulators and semiconductors. Band theory of solids, Fermi energy. Heat capacity. Einstein-Debye theories of heat capacity. Microscopic basis for Ohm's law. Semiconductors. N-type and P-type semiconductors and the properties of P-N junctions. Hall effect.
• Superconductivity. Superconducting transition temperatures and critical magnetic fields. Types I and II superconductors. Meissner effect and magnetic levitation. High-Tc superconductors. Applications of superconductivity. Application of SQUID devices.
• High energy physics. Classification of the particles: mesons, baryons. Quarks and leptons and their properties. Quark confinement. Selection rules for particle interactions. Conservation laws: conservation of baryon number, conservation of lepton number.
• High energy physics. Unification of the forces. Quantum theory of the weak interaction. Feynmann diagrams.
• Connections between the very small and the very large. Implications of particle interactions for astrophysical phenomena. Physics of the expanding universe.