Notes: Little or no
math will be used and no prior knowledge of physics is assumed. A good
command of English and visual imagination will be helpful to understand the
concepts. Satisfies a GEC requirement for laboratory science.
If you prefer more math and
calculation, try PHYS 1313 Fundamentals of
Physics
The deepest ideas in physics
explained for non-scientists
from Relativity to Quantum
PHYS
1301
IDEAS
OF MODERN PHYSICS
Spring 2008
Notes: Little or no
math will be used and no prior knowledge of physics is assumed. A good
command of English and visual imagination will be helpful to understand the
concepts. Satisfies a GEC requirement for laboratory science.
If you prefer more math and
calculation, try PHYS 1313 Fundamentals of
Physics
|
The deepest ideas in physics
explained for non-scientists
from Relativity to Quantum
|
PHYS
1301
IDEAS
OF MODERN PHYSICS
Spring 2008 |
LECTURER: Dr. Simon Dalley
Required Texts:
Inside
Relativity by Delo. E. Mook and
The New Quantum Universe by Tony Hey and Patrick Walters
· Lecture: MW 1:00-1:50 pm in 158 Fondren Science.
· Laboratory Sessions: F 1:00-2:50 pm, 3:00-4:50 pm in 60 Fondren Science.
· Office hours: Fridays 10am – noon, 207 Fondren Science
· Contact:
o Call or leave a message at (214) 768-2109, or
o Leave a note in my mailbox in Physics Department Office, 102 Fondren Science
o send me e-mail: <sdalley@physics.smu.edu>
INFORMATION
· Syllabus
· Rules
· Homework
· Click here for dispensations for Extracurricular Activities, Disabilities, and Religious Observances
·
Grading
table. Password required
·
Essay
RESOURCES
· Help: After your lab, during office hours. More arranged as needed.
· WWW resources:
· A useful internet guide to many ideas of modern physics is Physics 2000.
· Read about Galileo and Newton , chaps without whom PHYS 1301 could not have been taught.
· Planetary features that refute geocentric model, Jupiter, Venus, Moon.
· The medical technique of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) uses solenoid magnetic fields and electromagnetic radio waves to detect water content in the body.
· CT (Computerized Tomography) scans use 3-dimensional arrangements of X-rays to reconstruct images for medical diagnosis.
· Light clocks at rest and in relative motion
·
Particle accelerators move elementary particles
close to the speed of light. An old one
(0.99c) and the latest one
(0.99999c) at CERN laboratory in
·
Aircraft routes follow geodesics, the shortest path between two
points. This is not a straight line because the Earth is not flat (even in
· Gravity bends the path of light, producing gravitational lensing of galaxies and black holes
· Our galaxy, the Milky Way.
· The Hubble space telescope has verified many of the predictions of General Relativity in recent years.
· The line spectra that exist within the spectrum of colours due to absorption of special wavelengths by atoms.
· Unsolved Mysteries of Physics beyond the Standard Model (final PowerPoint lecture)