This page is dedicated to the course PHYS222 (Modern Physics for Engineers and Scientists).
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the basis of experimental and theoretical development that led to the 20thcentury revolution in physics
- Understand the basics of Einstein’s special relativity and its application
- The relation between mass and energy and its direct application
- Review of the old quantum mechanics: discovery of the Planck constant, blackbody radiation. Bohr hydrogen atom, Compton scattering, photoelectric effect.
- Formalism of modern quantum mechanics: Quantum states, wave functions, operators, Schrödinger equations, two and three dimensional potential wells, tunneling across barriers
- Hydrogen atom and Schrödinger time independent equation: separation of variables, Radial and Spherical Harmonics, energy levels, shell, subshells, quantum numbers, selection rules, spin, Zeeman normal and anomalous, Pauli principle, Periodic table
- Multi-electron atoms, LS Coupling, spectroscopic terms, Lande factor, selection rules. Diatomic molecules: vibration and rotation spectra. Laser: emission, and induced transition, resonances. Transition probability, selection rules.
- Molecules, lasers and solids: Molecular bonding and spectra, Einstein coefficients. holography, Bose-Einstein condensation in gases.
- Elementary nuclear physics
- Introduction to elementary particles: Quarks, lepton, baryons, mesons, conservations law.
Course elements:
- Lectures
- New labs on photoelectric effect and electron diffraction experiment
- Project: students are grouped in teams. Each team is assigned a small research project on the application of physics concepts in daily life. Examples are: application of pair production and annihilation in nuclear medicine, application of classical and relativistic Doppler effect, MRI…
Resources:
- Textbook:“Modern Physics for Engineers and Scientists” by S. Thornton and A. Rex
- Michelson & Morley experiment
- Light and Quantum: Talk given By Prof. Serge Haroche, 2012 Physics Nobel Prize Laureate.
- A historical overview of modern physics.
- Physics for the 21st century.
Minor in Physics:
Since 2017, TAMUQ engineering students can enroll in a physics minor.
For more information, please contact physics faculty or the program chair of the science program.