These opening remarks are followed by in-depth discussion of the concepts of energy, energy quantization, and the application of these concepts to the modeling of macroscopic systems. The remainder of the course is a study of statistical mechanics and its application to a variety of classical and quantum systems. Topics covered include statistical thermodynamics, Maxwellian distributions, imperfect gases, equipartition theorem, quantum statistics, heat capacities of solids, radiation, and ideal quantum gases. Offered in alternate years. This course explores an area of current interest in physics.
Topics vary from year to year, depending on faculty and student interest.
The emphasis is on thorough exploration of a contemporary field of physics accessible to students with an intermediate undergraduate physics background. Students will be consulted before selection of the course topic, and a detailed description will be provided before fall term registration. A fundamental course in quantum mechanics aimed at understanding the mathematical structure of the theory and its application to physical phenomena at the atomic and nuclear levels. This course will emphasize realistic atomic and nuclear structure calculations using the techniques of perturbation theory and angular momentum coupling. A major goal is complete calculations of fine structure, hyperfine structure and the Lamb shift for the hydrogen atom in the presence of perturbing fields.