Modern Physics

Oberlin College Physics 212

Syllabus for Fall 2021

Learning goals: Through your work in this course, you will

Aldo Leopold wrote "We speak glibly of . . . education, but what do we mean by it? If we mean indoctrination, then let us be reminded that it is just as easy to indoctrinate with fallacies as with facts. If we mean to teach the capacity for independent judgment, then I am appalled by the magnitude of the task." The ultimate goal of this course (and, I hope, of all your other courses) is to develop your capacity for thoughtful, informed, independent judgment.

Teacher (lectures): Dan Styer, Wright 215, 440-775-8183, Dan.Styer@oberlin.edu
home telephone 440-281-1348 (9:00 am to 8:00 pm only). Instructions for meeting with me are given under "Schedule" here.

Teacher (laboratories): Yumi Ijiri, Wright 216, 440-775-6484, Yumi.Ijiri@oberlin.edu.

Prerequisites: Physics 111 (Electricity, Magnetism, and Thermodynamics) and Mathematics 231 (Multivariable Calculus). Concurrent or prior enrollment in Mathematics 234 (Differential Equations) is highly recommended for physics majors.

Meeting times: Class: MWF at 11:00 am - 11:50 pm in Wright Laboratory 201. Conference: Tu at 12:10 - 1:30 pm in Wright Laboratory 201.
Lab: Wednesday or Thursday at 1:30 pm in Wright Laboratory 214.

Laboratories start on W/Th 6/7 October. The first lab will be an introductory meeting, including a start on uncertainty analysis. Lab handouts will be distributed via Blackboard, and should be read before attending lab. Bring a cloth-bound laboratory notebook to every lab. Laboratory syllabus (PDF).

Course web site: http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/Modern. I will post handouts, problem assignments, and model solutions here.

Topics:

Textbooks:

Color code: In the quantum mechanics portion of this course I will need to represent many different types of entities on the chalkboard simultaneously. To help keep these different sorts of things straight, I will use various colors. (Some students have found it helpful to take notes with a variety of colored pens.) I will use

the color:    to represent:
olive green    potential energy functions
blue    energy eigenvalues
red    energy eigenfunctions

Pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and the character of science: I don't care what pronouns you use when referring to me. Similarly, you may call me "Dan", or "Mr. Styer", or "Dr. Styer", or "Prof. Styer", whichever you find most comfortable. My personal preference, however, is that you call me "Dan". In this course I will present upsetting conclusions violently opposed to our common sense and common experience. (For example: That a moving clock ticks slowly. That light travels not in straight lines. That an atom might not have a position.) I hope you'll accept those conclusions because they are based on experimental evidence and on cogent, clear, fact-based reasoning -- experiments and reasoning that you or I or anyone else could execute. If you accept those conclusions instead because I have earned the right to put a fancy shingle in front of my name, my teaching will have been an abject failure.

Laboratories: Your laboratory work is an important part of this course and accounts for one-quarter of your final grade. As you will see, the laboratory section will NOT be synced to lecture material, as it will become more exploratory and more focused on developing good data-taking and analyzing skills. During the semester, you will perform a series of experiments, maintain a lab notebook for documentation, and hand in two written lab reports (3-4 pages in length). See the separate lab description (PDF) for details.

Problem assignments: Posted on the course web site every Wednesday, due at 11:00 am the following Wednesday unless there is an exam. My model solutions will be posted at the end of this lecture, so late assignments cannot usually be accepted (I may make an exception in the case of a health or family emergency). In writing your solutions, do not just write down the final answer. Show your reasoning and your intermediate steps. Describe (in words) the thought that went into your work as well as describing (in equations) the mathematical manipulations involved. For numerical results, give units and apply significant figures.

Why do you have to "show your reasoning and your intermediate steps"? If someone claimed "I won reelection in November 2020. I won by a landslide." but could not provide evidence supporting his assertion, would you belive him? I hope not. Similarly with any scientific (or non-scientific) problem. If you merely present the answer without showing supporting data or reasoning, you have not solved the problem.

I encourage you to collaborate or to seek printed help in working the problems, but the final write-up must be entirely your own: you may not copy word for word or equation for equation. When you do obtain outside help you must acknowledge it. (E.g. "By integrating Halliday, Resnick, and Walker equation (10.12) I find that. . ." or "Employing the substitution u = sin(x) (suggested by Carol Hall). . ." or even "In working these problems I benefited from discussions with Mike Fisher and John Silsbee.") Such an acknowledgement will never lower your grade; it is required as a simple matter of intellectual fairness. Each assignment will be graded by a student grader working under my close supervision.

Exams: There will be two in-semester exams and a final. All will be take-home exams, limited in time to two hours. The in-semester exams are due at 11:00 am on the Wednesdays of 27 October and 15 December. The final will be due at 4:00 pm on Friday, 21 January 2022 (the time set by the registrar). In determining your grade the final exam will have twice the weight of the in-semester exams, and I will drop the lowest in-semester exam's worth of score (i.e. either the score of one hour exam or half the score of the final). No collaboration is permitted in working the exams. You may consult any written or on-line source. Calculators are permitted. Before each exam I will distribute a sample exam.

Grading: Your final numerical grade will be compounded of 25% lab, 37.5% problem assignments, and 37.5% exams. On a 40-point scale, those with 40--34 points earn the grade "A", 33--28 points earn the grade "B", 27--20 points earn the grade "C", 19 or fewer points earn the grade "F". However, to pass this course you must earn a passing lab grade, and you must earn at least 50% of the exam points.

Bibliography

The following books are on reserve in the Science Library: (They are located on shelves along the south wall, not far to your right when you enter, near some comfortable chairs to encourage browsing.)

General:

Thomas A. Moore, Six Ideas that Shaped Physics [QC125.2.M66 2003; QC793.3.C58 M66 2003; QC665.E4 M67 2003; QC318.17.M66 2003; QC173.65.M657 2003; QC476.W38 M66 2003]
(A six volume series, Unit Q of which is most relevant to this course.)

Raymond A. Serway, Clement J. Moses, and Curt A. Moyer, Modern Physics [QC21.2.S38 2005]

James William Rohlf, Modern Physics from α to Z0 [QC21.2.R62 1994]

David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker, Fundamentals of Physics [QC21.3.H35 2014 vol. 1]

Mathematical methods:

Gary Felder and Kenny Felder, Mathematical Methods in Engineering and Physics [TA330.F45 2016]

Relativity:

A.P. French, Special Relativity [530.11F887S]

Edwin F. Taylor and John Archibald Wheeler, Spacetime Physics, second edition [QC173.65.T37 1992]

Robert Resnick, Introduction to Special Relativity [530.11R312I]

John B. Kogut, Introduction to Relativity [QC173.55.K64 2001]

Quantum mechanics:

George Greenstein and Arthur G. Zajonc, The Quantum Challenge: Modern Research on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics [QC174.12.G73 1997]

Richard Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Notes on this book.) [QC793.5.P422F48 1985]