Course detail

Modern Physics

FEKT-NMFYAcad. year: 2011/2012

The postulates of relativity and their implications, the Lorentz transformation, world lines, relativistic energy and momentum. The quantization of energy, the wave properties of particles, the uncertainty principle, Hermitian operators, the Schrödinger equation, particles in boxes, tunneling through a barrier, spin, radiative transitions, the band theory.
Chaos in conservative and dissipative systems, deterministic chaos.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. Ing. Karel Liedermann, CSc.

Department

Department of Physics (UFYZ)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Students will have some familiarity with main ideas of relativity and with most of the important models of quantum mechanics.

Prerequisites

The subject knowledge on the Bachelor´s degree level is requested.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Teaching methods depend on the type of course unit as specified in the article 7 of BUT Rules for Studies and Examination..

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Requirements for completion of a course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every year.

Course curriculum

The postulates of relativity and their implications, the Lorentz transformation, world lines, relativistic energy and momentum. The quantization of energy, the wave properties of particles, the uncertainty principle, Hermitian operators, the Schrödinger equation, particles in boxes, tunneling through a barrier, spin, radiative transitions, the band theory.
Chaos in conservative and dissipative systems, deterministic chaos.

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The purpose of this coarse is to introduce students to the most important ideas , concepts and laws of twentieth-century physics.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

The content and forms of instruction in the evaluated course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every academic year.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

House J.E.: Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics Academic Press, San Diego, London,..., 1998
Landshoff P., Metherell A.,Rees G.: Essential Quantum Physics Cambridge University Press,1999
R.C. Hillborn: Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics: An Introduction for. Scientists and Engineers, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New. York, 1994
Sartori L.: Understanding Relativity University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1996

Recommended reading

Halliday D., Resnick R., Walker J.: Physics Wiley New York 2001
Serway R., A.: Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, London,..., 1996

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme EECC-MN Master's

    branch MN-SVE , 1 year of study, winter semester, theoretical subject
    branch MN-EEN , 1 year of study, winter semester, theoretical subject
    branch MN-TIT , 1 year of study, winter semester, theoretical subject

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

39 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Karel Liedermann, CSc.

Syllabus

The Principle of Relativity, the Michelson-Morley Experiment, the Postulates of Special Relativity and their Implications.
The Lorentz Transformation. Some Consequences of the Transformation Equations, the Transformation of Velocity.
World Lines. Relativistic Energy and Momentum.
Photons, Tachyons. The Main Ideas of General Relativity. Paradoxes of Relativity.
Blackbody Radiation, the Photoelectric Effect, the Compton Effect.
The Bohr Model for the Hydrogen Atom. The Wave Properties of Particles, the Uncertainty Principle, the Wave Function.
Hermitian Operators, Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions of Operators.
The Schrödinger Equation,the Particle in a One-Dimensional Box, the Linear Harmonic Oscillator.
Tunneling through a Barrier, the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Tunneling and Superconductivity. The Hydrogen Atom.
The Zeeman Effect, Spin, the Pauli Exclusion Principle.
Radiative Transitions, Absorption, Spontaneous and Stimulated Emission, Lasers.
Free-Electron Theory of Metals, the Fermi-Dirac Distribution Function, Band Theory of Solids.
Chaos in Conservative Systems, Deterministic Chaos.

Fundamentals seminar

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Karel Liedermann, CSc.

Syllabus

Implications of the Postulates of Relativity:Simultaneity, Time Dilation, Length Contraction.
The Lorentz Transformation. Transformation of Velocity.
Space-Time Diagrams.
Relativistic Momentum and Energy.
Planck´s Law, the Photoelectric Effect, the Compton Effect.
The Bohr Model for the Hydrogen Atom. The Uncertainty Principle.
Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions of Operators. Hermitian Operators.
The Schrödinger Equation. Particles in Boxes.
The Phenomenon of Barrier Penetration.
The Hydrogen Atom.
The Zeeman Effect, Spin.
The Fermi-Dirac Distribution Function.