Syllabus
Physics 432, Solid State Physics
Fall Semester, 2015-2016
Instructor: Michael S. Pierce Office Gosnell 08-3218 Lab Gosnell 08-3231
E-mail: mspsps@rit.edu
Website: http://tigger.rit.edu
Phone 475-2089
Office Hours: I have an open door policy—whenever I am in my office I am happy to see you. You can see my schedule on my website. Generally I am here by 9 and 10 am and leave around 6-7 pm. Mondays from 2-3pm and Thursdays 11am-noon will serve as
“formal” office hours where I will make certain to be in my office without anything else scheduled. Those will be the best time if you have questions regarding homework.
Finding me: My lab is directly behind this room (to the north). Across that hall is the only elevator in Gosnell. My office is directly behind that elevator. Both lab and office are on this floor. If I am not in my office, chances are I am in the laboratory. If I’m in my office and the door is open, I will make time for you and be happy to talk. The door to the lab is always locked, but you can knock. I cannot promise that I will meet with you then, but if possible I will make time for you (it’s worth trying). If I am not there (nor in my office), my students in the lab may know.
TA / Grader : None at this time.
Class M, W, 5:00 – 6:15 pm James E Gleason Hall (GLE)-2149,
Hour Exams: Exam 1 Oct. 5 th 5-6pm. Exam 2 Nov. 23 rd 5-6pm.
Make-up exams are provided only in unusual circumstances. A request for a make-up exam must be submitted via email or in writing to the School of Physics & Astronomy and copied to your instructor. All requests must be submitted using the Make-Up Exam Request Form available on my website. Submission of the request is in no way a guarantee that it will be approved. All requests are considered by the School Head on a case-by-case basis. Whenever possible, you must allow sufficient and reasonable lead time for a considered response to your request.
Final Exam: December 16 th , 2015 5-7pm GLE-2149 . Do not plan to leave Rochester before the final exam. Makeup final exams or early exams will not be allowed except as approved by the physics chair prior to the exam.
Only simple calculators may be used in exams. No smart phones, graphing calculators, etc… may be used (nothing with extensive memory or the ability to communicate).
Course materials:
Textbook: Steven H. Simon, The Oxford Solid State Basics. Required
Charles Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics.
Optional
Homework problems:
Homework will be assigned weekly and consist of the 5 – 10 problems related to the material just discussed in class. Assignments will be given on Monday each week and be due at the beginning of class on the following Monday.
Research paper / presentation:
By week 8 each student will pick a topic from solid-state/condensed matter physics on which to write a paper and give a short presentation near the end of the semester. Approval (by me) is required for each

topic. Students may choose a topic that relates directly to their capstone project. Topics do not have to be completely unrelated, but you’re not getting a free-pass if your capstone just happens to be something related to solid state. Topics can come from current literature, but may also come from review articles or use texts (with approval) to examine well known but interesting phenomena.
Example topics will be provided prior to week 8.
Grading: Your course grade will be determined by an assessment of the quality and quantity of your work. The following proportions will be used:
Hour Exam 1
Hour Exam 2
Final exam (cumulative)
15%
15%
20%
Homework
In-Class Activities, Participation
40%
10%
Initial cutoffs are 90, 80, 70, 60% for A, B, C, D. They will not be lowered by much, if at all.
You are adults and fully capable of calculating your grades based upon the graded material that I return to you.
If you are not attending or are failing the course, please drop or withdraw by the appropriate date.
Graded Work:
You have up to five days after the return of graded work to ask for it to be re-graded. Items subjected to re-grading may be given greater scrutiny.
Plagiarism and Cheating:
When you work on assignments cooperatively but turn them in individually (such as activity sheets or short lab reports) you may share data, equations, graphs, calculations and drawings. However, all written work must be expressed in your own words. Thus, you may not copy (even with some modification) things like abstracts, summaries, descriptions, discussions or conclusions. If there is reasonable evidence of copying, it will be construed as an act of plagiarism and each student involved will receive a failing grade on that assignment. Since part of your grade will depend on the work of your team members, it is important for you to work cooperatively with them and help them understand the course material. At the same time, you should check that their written work is different from yours.
If you cheat on an exam, you will automatically fail the course and I will take you directly to the Dean of the College of Science and Provost to see if further punishment is possible. The university will be formally notified, your other instructors (present and past) informed, and if there is any evidence you have cheated in another course you will very likely be expelled from the university. I have zero tolerance for cheating. It is not worth the risk.
Extra Help : Do not hesitate to come to my office during office hours or by appointment to discuss coursework, a homework problem, or any aspect of the course.