PHYS 2170 - Foundations of Modern Physics

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Lecture Notes

  • Lecture 1
    • Review
    • Overview
  • Lecture 2
    • relativity in nature
    • inertial reference frame
    • Galilean relativity
    • space-time event
  • Lecture 3
    • Electromagnetic waves
    • Michelson-Morley experiment
    • Postulates of Einstein’s special theory of relativity
  • Lecture 4
    • space-time event
    • synchronization of clocks
    • simultaneity is frame dependent!
    • relativity of time
  • Lecture 5
    • physics behind time dilation
    • proper time
  • Lecture 6
    • physics behind length contraction
    • Lorentz transformation
    • relativistic Doppler effect
  • Lecture 7
    • momentum
    • mass
    • energy
    • relativistic mechanics
  • Lecture 8
    • structure of matter
    • atoms, electrons, protons, neutrons
    • experimental evidence
  • Lecture 9 - Particle nature of light
    • Planck's black-body radiation
    • photoelectric effect
    • Compton scattering
  • Lecture 10 - Atomic spectra
    • atomic absorption and emission spectra
    • Bohr's theory
  • Lecture 11 - Wave nature of particles
    • de Broglie matter waves
    • wavefunction
    • Heisenberg uncertainty principle
  • Lecture 12 - Schrodinger's equation
    • wavefunction
    • physical observables through operators
  • Lecture 13 - One-dimensional problems
    • free particle
    • infinite square well
    • finite square well
    • harmonic oscillator
    • step potential
    • barrier tunneling
  • Lecture 14 - Separation of variables
    • two- and three-dimensional problems
  • Lecture 15 - Hydrogen atom redux