Hello, and welcome to the amazing world of modern physics! My name is Dr. David Boness, Associate Professor of Physics at Seattle University. My office is in Bannan 311, and for this quarter my office hours will be MTWThF from 11:45 to 12:35. Please also feel free to contact me by e-mail at dboness@seattleu.edu or at my office phone (296-5924); e-mail is preferred.

Course web page: http://www.seattleu.edu/scieng/phys/Phys205Sp2001.htm

Class meetings: M W F 10:45-11:35 in Bannan 301.

Text: Paul A. Tipler and Ralph A. Llewellyn. Modern Physics, 3^rd Ed. W. H. Freeman, New York, 1999.

Course objectives and framework: In this course, with my guidance, I want you to build a foundation for understanding the foundation of our world. As an introductory physics course, Physics 205 intends to enable you to understand how the microscopic world works and builds up through larger length scales to make up the mesoscopic world of our everyday experience.

During this course you will need to apply your analytical problem-solving skills using relevant physics equations, associated mathematics, and the written word. By the end of the course you should have a foundation in introductory quantum physics sufficient for further study in physics, semiconductor device physics and engineering, materials science, and physical chemistry.

This course is especially relevant for physics majors (of course!) and for electrical engineering majors. Over half of all physicists work in applied physics, often in the field of semiconductor physics and quantum optics. Many electrical engineers use applied physics to design electronic devices that require knowledge of quantum physics to understand.

The practical impact of quantum physics must not be understated: Human technological history until fifty-some years ago has seen the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, and the age of steel and steam. The 1940s ushered in the atomic age and the silicon age, both from quantum physics. Currently, while silicon technology continues to advance, we are in the photonics age, the age of light. Further technological advances in the century ahead will heavily involve semiconductor technology, photonics, carbon nanotube technology, conductive plastic films, and biological molecular technology. All of these technologies were developed from applied quantum physics.

What fraction of the global economy comes from the inventions of physicists who delved into the quantum world? What value can be placed on the transistor, the microprocessor, the laser, the photodiode? Trillions of dollars annually. The future looks stunning as current physics knowledge makes its way into engineered products.

But this course is about much more than practical inventions, as phenomenally important as they are. Quantum physics has altered philosophy itself, our attempt to understand the nature of being, of reality, of time. We will spend a modest amount of time in this course learning about what is currently understood about the foundations of quantum physics and the nature of reality.

Finally, the subject of quantum physics should be taught in an historical context. Science is a human process. Established knowledge does not just spring into being. Many science and engineering textbooks completely ignore the historical development of the subjects they purport to explain. Our course textbook by Tipler and Llewellyn has the usual equations and sample problems but is especially good at presenting the experiments that led to our knowledge. Some of these experiments we do in our Physics 370 course: Modern Physical Measurement.

Schedule: A detailed day-by-day schedule will be continually updated on the course web page listed above. We will cover the following topics in order, represented by these text chapters:

Ch. 3: Quantization of charge, light, and energy

Ch. 4: The nuclear atom

Ch. 5: The wavelike properties of particles

Ch. 6: The Schrdinger equation

Ch. 7: Atomic physics

Ch. 9: Molecular structure and spectra

Ch. 10: Solid-state physics

Ch. 14: Cosmology (at least in part) [This chapter is on the publishers web site at http://www.whfreeman.com/physics See page xi in the Preface to your text.]

Expectations of student work: You are expected to read the textbook very carefully. The book was written for an introductory physics course in modern physics, but it is more wordy than most math and engineering books that you have used. You are also expected to do your own homework. I will provide solutions to the homework problems on reserve in the library (I might decide to post the solutions as PDF files on the course web page instead). Of course, you are required to have good attendance and to show the enthusiasm for the subject matter that probably led you to sign up for the course.

Assignments, quizzes, and exams: End-of-chapter homework problems will be assigned about once a week. I will grade them. On the first class day of each week there will be a brief (10-minute) reading quiz. There will be one Midterm Exam on Friday, April 27. The Final Exam will be on Thursday, June 7, from 10:00 am to noon. Half of the Final Exam will be effectively another Midterm Exam on the second half of the course, and half will be a comprehensive test over the whole course.

Grading: Weighting as follows: Reading quizzes25%; Homework20%; Midterm Exam20%; Final Exam30%, Attendance5%.