ABOUT THE COURSE:The course encompasses a large spectrum of topics under the umbrella of ‘Modern Physics’. Very few courses or books cover such a vast number of topics that are essential for every scientist and engineer to learn. The course covers review of classical physics, emergence of old quantum theory, basic quantum mechanics, its postulates and applications on a variety of systems, introduction to linear algebra for notations used in modern quantum physics, Lasers, statistical physics, Solid State Physics, Nuclear Physics and an introduction to elementary particles. Apart from the usual course curriculum for colleges and universities across the country, the course will be useful the first or second year undergraduates (B.Sc in Physics and Chemistry), first year post graduates (M.Sc), for preparation of recently introduced CUET (UG and PG) and civil services exams.INTENDED AUDIENCE: B.Sc and M.Sc studentsINDUSTRY SUPPORT: Any engineering company will value the course.

Syllabus

Week 1: Reviews of Classical Physics, Lagrangian Formalism, Special Theory of Relativity, Length Contraction, Time Dilation, Lorentz Transformation, Mass Energy EquivalenceWeek 2:Structure of an Atom, Bohr quantization, Angular momentum, Rurtherford Scattering, Correspondence Principle, Spectral lines, Blamer, Lyman, Bracket, Pfund seriesWeek 3:Stern Gerlach Experiment, Planck’s Radiation law, Wave-particle duality, de Broglie relation, Photoelectric and Compton Effects, Probabilistic interpretation, Uncertainty Principle, Phase and Group velocitiesWeek 4:Postulates of Quantum Mechanics, superposition principle, Dirac’s bra-ket notation, Solution of Schroedinger equation in one-dimensional problems, Particle in a box, Barrier transmission problems, Harmonic Oscillator, Bound statesWeek 5:Solution of Schroedinger equation in 3D. Hydrogen atom, degeneracies, Elementary ideas of Perturbation theory, splitting of energy levels, Stark and Zeeman effectsWeek 6:Time dependent perturbation theory, Einstein’s A, B coefficients, Stimulated Emission and Absorption, Electron spin, spin-orbit coupling, Total Angular Momentum, LS, JJ Coupling, Clebsch-Gordon coefficientsWeek 7:Basics of electromagnetism, Electric and Magnetic Fields, Poynting Vector, Maxwell’s equations, Propagation of electro-magnetic waves in vacuum and mediumWeek 8:Statistical description of matter, Elementary idea about ensembles, Microcanical, Canonical and Grand canonical ensembles, Liouville’s Theorem, Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB), Bose-Einstein (BE) and Fermi-Dirac (FD) distributions, Week 9:Applications of Bose Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics, Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC), properties of free Fermi Gas, Pauli paramagnetismWeek 10:Solid State Physics, Lattice vibration, Specific heat of solids, Semiconductors, p and n type semiconductors, elementary ideas of Magnetism and SuperconductivityWeek 11:Elementary Nuclear Physics, Binding energy, Shell model, Liquid drop model, Nuclear forces, Radioactivity, half-life, alpha, Beta and gamma decay, Fission and Fusion Week 12:A short introduction to Elementary particles, Leptons and quarks, Elements of the Standard Model.