Course instructor: R. Egerton, Department of Physics
Classical physics implies discoveries made during the 19th century and earlier.
Mechanics was established through experiments of Galileo and formulated by Newton, who introduced the concepts of force F ("action at a distance") and mass m. Newton also introduced a formula (F = G m1 m2 / r^2) for the universal gravitational force, whose proportionality constant G was first measured by Cavendish,
Electromagnetism represents a combination of the classical theories of electrostatics, electricity and magnetism. Maxwell's Equations show that electromagnetic travelling waves, travelling in vacuum, have a speed equal to the measured speed of light. This speed is independent of wavelength, so other forms of electromagnetic radiation have similar properties. Since other forms of wave motion (sound, water waves etc.) require a medium in which to propagate, a (luminiferous) ether was assumed to be present everywhere in the universe. (The ether can also be thought of as "explaining" action at a distance for electrostatic and magnetic forces; Descartes believed that a vortex in the ether caused the motion of planets around the sun).
Optics was developed by Newton, Hooke and Huygens (mid-17th century) and by Fresnel and Young (in the early 1800's). Geometrical optics assumes that light travels (in a uniform medium) in straight lines, like a stream of particles (Newton's corpuscles of light). However, diffraction effects occur when light is intercepted by objects of small dimensions, and can only by explained by physical optics - taking light to be a wave.
Classical physics also includes the study of heat (thermodynamics) and of fluids.
In 1923, De Broglie introduced the idea of matter waves, soon verified by the discovery of
the diffraction properties of particles.
The Rutherford planetary model of the atom gave way to
Bohr's quantum model and later to a wave description of the atomic electrons based on
wave mechanics, developed by Schrodinger and others in the 1920's.
Required:
Modern Physics, by R.A. Serway, C.J. Moses and C.A. Moyer (Saunders College Publishing: second edition)
Optional reading:
From Quarks to the Cosmos, by Leon M. Ledermann and David N. Schramm
(1995, Freeman and Co. paperback)
The Rise of the New Physics, by A. D'Abro (1939, Dover, 982 pages)
Includes mathematical principles, maybe too advanced for this course.
The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by G. Zukav (1979, Bantam, 337 pages)
New-age account of Relativity, Quantum and Particle Physics.
Dreams of a Final Theory, by S. Weinberg (1992, Vintage/Random House)
Particle-physicist's account of the quest for a unifying theory of nature.
Consequences of Special Relativity
Blackbody Radiation and Photoelectric Effect
Compton Effect and Pair Annihilation
De Broglie waves, electron diffraction
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle