Modern Physics Lecture Topics

1. Modern vs. Classical Physics

2. Special Relativity

i) Reference Frames

ii) Galilean Relativity

iii) The Need for Change and the Postulates of Special Relativity

iv) Time Dilation

v) Lengths Perpendicular to the Direction of Motion

vi) Lengths Oriented Along the Direction of Motion: Length Contraction

vii) The Lorentz Transformation Equations

viii) The Relativity of Simultaneity

ix) Relativistic Velocity Addition

x) The Longitudinal Doppler Effect

xi) The Transverse Doppler Effect

xii) The General Relativistic Doppler Effect

xiii) Relativistic Dynamics

3. Particle Properties of Waves

i) Classical Waves

ii) Electromagnetic Waves

iii) Blackbody Radiation

iv) The Photoelectric Effect

v) The Compton Effect

vi) X-Rays

vii) Pair Production and Annihilation

viii) Absorption of Photons

4. Wave Properties of Particles

i) The de Broglie Hypothesis

ii) Experimental Confirmation of de Broglie’s Hypothesis

iii) The Interpretation of de Broglie Waves

iv) The Uncertainty Principle

5. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

i) Particle-Waves and the Wavefunction

ii) Operators and Expectation Values

iii) The Schrodinger Equation

6. Elementary Particles

i) History

ii) Prelude to the Modern Picture

iii) Cosmic Rays and Cloud Chambers

iv) The Elementary Particle Explosion

v) Yukawa’s Proposal

vi) Accelerators

vii) Particles and Resonances

viii) Strangeness and the Eightfold Way

ix) Quarks, Baryons and Mesons

x) The Standard Model

xi) Interactions and Conserved Quantities