Physics 2213A Modern Physics
Professor Elisa Riedo
Howey Physics Building
Office N107
4-6580 elisa.riedo@physics.gatech.edu

Welcome to Modern Physics!
Modern Physics will take you from the
19 th century up to the 21 st ! It ’ s all the ideas that have changed the world!

Some more information
Class web page: http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/riedo/Teaching/Modern_Physics/ web_page.htm
I have a list of your email addresses, but feel free to send me an email with your GA Tech email address. And it ’ d be nice if you ’ d also include your major, telephone number, and anything else you ’ d like to tell me.
This way, I can tailor the course to your needs and let you know if we have to, say, cancel a class.

Course required text:
Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers (3 rd ed.) by Thornton & Rex
For problems, you will find plenty of problems on the book
Other helpful books:
3,000 Solved Problems in Physics (Schaum's Solved Problems) by A.Halpern
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Phillips Feynman (Author)
Physics by Marcelo Alonso (Author), Edward Finn (Author)
Thermal Physics by C. Kittel and H. Kroemer (Freeman)

My lectures will be a mix of PPT slides and
White board!
All my Power Point lectures will be on my web site: http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/riedo/Teaching/Modern_
Physics/web_page.htm
(click on “Lectures”).

Homework
Homework (4) will be assigned by using WebAssign
You can work with others on homework (I encourage you to do so!), but write it up yourself.

Quizzes
There will be 4 "one-hour" quizzes.
The quiz dates are indicated on the calendar

Grading
Homework (4)  10%
Quiz (4)  80%
Final Exam  10%

No one ’ s perfect.
So we give lots of partial credit.
But you must say what you ’ re doing!
Write a lot of text in addition to equations in your homework and quizzes.

The Importance of Having Class
You should come to class because there ’ s a lot that I ’ ll say that won ’ t be in the Power Point files. And which will be on the quizzes.
In the past, people who have skipped a lot of classes have received very bad grades. Conversely, people who ’ ve come to most or all of the classes nearly always receive A ’ s and B ’ s.

Understanding the ideas of each lecture requires the knowledge of the previous lectures.
If you keep up, you won ’ t end up looking like this the night before the quizzes!

Modern Physics has very some unintuitive ideas.
In fact, this course will hit you with more than any other course you ’ ll ever take. The goal is simply to expose you to them, and later courses will cover them on more detail.

Program:
The birth of modern physics TRex Ch 1 (1 lecture)
Special relativity 1, 2, & 3 TRex Ch 2 (6 lectures)
The basis of quantum mechanics TRex Ch 3 (3 lectures)
The Bohr atom TRex Ch 4 (3 lectures)
Quantum mechanics 1 & 2 TRex Chs 5, 6 (9 lectures)
The hydrogen atom TRex Ch 7 (3 lectures)
Atomic physics TRex Ch 8 (3 lectures)
Statistical physics TRex Ch 9 (6 lectures)
Molecules and solids TRex Ch 10 (6 lectures)
Semiconductor Theory and Devices Ch 11
Nuclei and nuclear interactions TRex Ch 12 & 13 (optional reading)
Particle physics TRex Ch 14 (optional reading)
General relativity TRex Ch 15 (optional reading)
Cosmology TRex Ch 16 (optional reading)