300
An introductory survey of the behavior of electrical circuits. Review of current, voltage, and passive circuit elements (resistors, capacitors, and inductors). Kirchhoff's Laws, network theorems, and basic network analysis. General characteristics of amplifiers and electronic instrumentation. Introduction to operational amplifiers and active elements (transistors). Laplace transform analysis of transient (switching) response, and complex phasor analysis of sinusoidal steady-state response. Three hours lecture and one two-hour laboratory per week, in which students build and test circuits and learn how to use typical circuit simulation software (PSPICE).
Electronics and Circuit Analysis I Lab. An introductory survey of the behavior of electrical circuits. Review of current, voltage, and passive circuit elements (resistors, capacitors, and inductors). Kirchhoff's Laws, network theorems, and basic network analysis. General characteristics of amplifiers and electronic instrumentation. Introduction to operational amplifiers and active elements (transistors). Laplace transform analysis of transient (switching) response, and complex phasor analysis of sinusoidal steady-state response. Three hours lecture and one two-hour laboratory per week, in which students build and test circuits and learn how to use typical circuit simulation software (PSPICE).
A continuation of
PHYS 305 /
ENGR 305. Systematic node-voltage and mesh-current methods of circuit analysis. Network transfer functions and frequency spectra. Mutual inductance and transformers. Diode circuits and the behavior of single-transistor amplifiers using field-effect or bipolar-junction transistors. Analysis and design of digital logic circuits. Principles of operation and interfacing of typical laboratory instruments. Three hours lecture and one two-hour laboratory per week.
A survey of geometrical optics, including lenses, ray-tracing, analysis of simple optical instruments (microscopes, telescopes) and an introduction to interference phenomena. This course consists of the first five weeks of
PHYS 323. Two 75-minute periods per week, one of which may be used for laboratory exercises.
An introduction to the highlights of
twentieth-century physics: quantum mechanics,
special and general relativity, and selected
topics in atomic and nuclear physics.
A survey of geometrical and physical optics, including the behavior of electromagnetic radiation across the spectrum. Topics include the dual wave/particle nature of radiation, lenses and ray-tracing, analysis of simple optical instruments (microscopes, telescopes), interference and diffraction phenomena, lasers and holography. Two 75-minute periods per week, one of which may be used for laboratory exercises.
A study of mathematical techniques and numerical computing methods used to solve problems of interest in physics. Topics include numerical solution of selected ordinary and partial differential equations (e.g., the wave equation, Laplace's equation, Schrödinger's equation), Monte Carlo simulations, and chaotic dynamics. Three hours lecture per week.
An intermediate course in classical mechanics. General treatment of the motion of particles in two and three dimensions, using Cartesian and polar coordinate systems. Static equilibrium of systems is studied, as is the central-force problem and rigid-body rotation, including the inertia tensor. Introduction to the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of mechanics. Three hours lecture per week.
An introduction to classical thermodynamics and statistical descriptions of many-particle systems. The first five weeks of the course provide an introduction to thermodynamics: definition of the fundamental state variables (temperature, pressure, energy, enthalpy, entropy) and formulation of the three laws of thermodynamics. Subsequent topics include diffusion and the random-walk problem, characterization of statistical ensembles and the meaning of equilibrium, partition functions, free energies, and entropy. The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for classical systems is contrasted with the Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions of quantum-mechanical systems. Three hours lecture per week.
An intermediate course utilizing vector calculus to study electrostatic and magnetostatic fields, both in vacuum and in matter. The relation between electrostatic and magnetostatic fields under relativistic transformations is studied, as are electrodynamics and Maxwell's Equations, and the generation and propagation of electromagnetic radiation. Three hours lecture per week.
An introduction to the use of wave functions, and their probabilistic interpretation, to characterize particles. Solutions of Schrödinger's wave equation are studied in one dimension (particle in a box, harmonic oscillator) and three dimensions (hydrogen atom). Operator methods and perturbation techniques are also introduced. Additional topics may include multi-electron atoms and/or an introduction to solid-state physics. Three hours lecture per week.