Modern Physics: A critical approach

PRELIMS.pdf
Preface
Acknowledgements
Editor biography
Canio Noce
Contributors
Outline placeholder
Carmine Attanasio
Francesco Avitabile
Antonio Capolupo
Mario Cuoco
Roberto De Luca
Marco Di Mauro
Marco Figliolia
Veronica Granata
Delia Guerra
Lazzaro Immediata
Antonio Leo
Maria Teresa Mercaldo
Martina Moccaldi
Angela Nigro
Canio Noce
Sergio Pagano
Ileana Rabuffo
Alfonso Romano
Marcello Sette
Alessandro Sorgente
Antonio Stabile
Antonio Vecchione
CH001.pdf
Chapter 1 The basic concepts of classical physics as a useful path towards modern physics
1.1 The Newton principles of dynamics
1.1.1 The principle of relativity and the first principle
1.1.2 The second principle
1.1.3 The third principle
1.2 Work and energy
1.2.1 The concept of work
1.2.2 The concept of kinetic energy
1.2.3 The concept of potential energy and the principle of conservation of mechanical energy
1.3 Angular momentum
1.4 Symmetries and conservation laws
1.5 A brief description of waves
1.5.1 General remarks
1.5.2 Mathematical description
1.5.3 Interference and diffraction
1.6 Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves
1.6.1 The integral and the differential forms of Maxwell’s equations
1.6.2 Electromagnetic waves
References
CH002.pdf
Chapter 2 Transition from classical physics to quantum physics: the role of interference
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Light
2.2.1 Corpuscular theory
2.2.2 Wave theory
2.2.3 Classic electromagnetic theory
2.2.4 Quantum theory
2.3 Light as a wave
2.3.1 What is a wave?
2.3.2 Electromagnetic waves
2.3.3 Classification of electromagnetic waves
2.4 Electromagnetism
2.4.1 History
2.4.2 Maxwell’s equations
2.5 Interference
2.6 The Michelson and Morley experiment
2.6.1 Conclusions
2.7 Gravitational interferometers
2.7.1 The LIGO interferometer
2.7.2 The VIRGO interferometer
2.7.3 The future of gravitational interferometers
2.7.4 Another use of interferometers
References
CH003.pdf
Chapter 3 Special relativity: an introduction
3.1 Kinematics and dynamics
3.1.1 Reference systems and events
3.1.2 Transformations and principles of relativity
3.1.3 Einstein’s relativity
3.1.4 Some important implications
3.1.5 Further work
3.2 Relativistic field transformations
3.2.1 Fields transformations in special relativity
3.2.2 Applications
Appendix
A.1 Relativistic invariance of Maxwell’s equations
References
CH004.pdf
Chapter 4 What happens to light when it passes through a prism? The early history of spectroscopy
4.1 Spectroscopy
4.1.1 The origin and development of optical spectroscopy
4.1.2 Refraction and dispersion
4.1.3 The hydrogen atom spectrum
4.1.4 Atomic theory
4.1.5 Optical spectroscopy analysis
4.2 Measuring the line spectra of inert gases and metal vapours using a prism spectrometer
4.2.1 General description of the experiment
4.2.2 Carrying out the experiment
References
CH005.pdf
Chapter 5 Electrical resistivity measurements reveal transport properties
5.1 Introduction
5.2 General considerations
5.3 Basic methods
5.3.1 The direct method
5.3.2 The two-point probe method
5.3.3 Linear four-point probes
5.3.4 Non-collinear probe spacing
5.3.5 Square array
5.3.6 The Delta four-point probe
5.3.7 The over–under probe
5.4 The van der Pauw method
5.4.1 Methods for measuring resistivity: the case of a flat sample of arbitrary shape
5.4.2 A method for measuring the Hall coefficient
5.5 Conclusions
References
CH006.pdf
Chapter 6 The electromagnetic theory of thermal radiation
6.1 Thermal radiation
6.2 Kirchhoff theorem: definition of a black-body
6.2.1 Absorption and emission coefficients
6.3 Proof for the Stefan–Boltzmann equation (6.7)
6.4 Proof of Wien’s law (6.8)
6.4.1 Wien’s displacement law
6.5 Planck oscillators and the Rayleigh–Jeans law
6.6 Planck’s law
6.6.1 Obtaining the Stefan–Boltzmann law from Planck’s formula
6.6.2 Special cases of Planck’s law
6.6.3 Wien’s displacement law from Planck’s formula
6.7 Some applications
6.7.1 The Sun as a black-body
6.7.2 Luminous intensity on Earth
6.7.3 TRAPPIST-1
6.7.4 Comparison of stars
References
CH007.pdf
Chapter 7 The dawn of quantum mechanics
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The photoelectric effect
7.3 The Compton effect
7.4 Atomic spectra
7.5 Atomic models
7.5.1 The Thomson model
7.5.2 The Rutherford model
7.5.3 The Bohr model
7.6 The Franck–Hertz experiment
7.7 The wave–particle duality
7.8 The double-slit experiment
References
CH008.pdf
Chapter 8 Key concepts in quantum mechanics
8.1 The history of quantum theory
8.1.1 Experiments with unexpected results
8.2 Novel mechanics and novel principles
8.2.1 Classical principles
8.2.2 The definition of a state
8.2.3 Quantum principles
8.3 Applications and developments
8.3.1 Properties of the wave function
8.3.2 Free particles in classical and quantum mechanics
8.3.3 An infinitely deep potential well
8.3.4 The surprises do not stop: quantum tunnelling
8.3.5 The harmonic oscillator: an overview
8.3.6 General discussion of 1D problems in quantum mechanics
8.4 Interpretational issues
8.4.1 The measurement problem and the Copenhagen interpretation
8.4.2 Quantum paradoxes
8.4.3 Alternative interpretations and ‘ontology’ of the state
Appendix
A On the continuity of the first derivative of the wave function
B Derivation of the uncertainty relations
References
CH009.pdf
Chapter 9 Early attempts to make many-particle physics simple
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Kinetic theory of gases and specific heats: the classical treatment
9.2.1 Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics: from micro to macro
9.2.2 Kinetic theory of gases: a first glance
9.2.3 The Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution
9.2.4 Specific heats of gases and solids
9.3 Transport properties of electrons in metals
9.3.1 Thermal conduction in the Drude model
9.4 A taste of quantum statistics
9.4.1 Classical versus quantum statistics
9.4.2 Bose–Einstein statistics
9.4.3 Fermi–Dirac statistics
9.4.4 The specific heat of solids
Appendices
A. Derivation of equation (9.23)
B. Derivation of equation (9.30)
References
CH010.pdf
Chapter 10 How to look deep inside matter: scanning electron microscopy
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Microscopy
10.2.1 The optical microscope and its limitations
10.2.2 Scanning electron microscopy
10.2.3 SEM components
10.2.4 SEM imaging
10.3 Compositional analysis in an electron microscope
10.3.1 X-ray spectroscopy
10.3.2 Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
10.3.3 Bragg reflection
10.3.4 Wavelength dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (WDS)
References
CH011.pdf
Chapter 11 The second revolution of quantum mechanics: a path for beginners from superconductivity to quantum computers
11.1 Introduction: the quantum world in a nutshell
11.2 Superconductivity: symmetry and quantum mechanics at the macroscopic scale
11.3 Engineering quantum bits with superconductors
11.4 The quantum world and quantum computers
11.5 A quantum algorithm
11.6 Exercise solutions
References
CH012.pdf
Chapter 12 A new quantum era: from quantum optics to quantum technologies
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Quantum optics and the quantum theory of coherence
12.3 Quantum computing and quantum information
12.4 The role of quantum optics in quantum information
12.5 Quantum technologies
12.5.1 The quantum teleportation protocol
12.5.2 Quantum metrology and quantum state engineering
12.5.3 Quantum memory
12.6 Conclusions and outlook
References
CH013.pdf
Chapter 13 The Thomson experiment: cathode rays are still hot
13.1 Introduction
13.2 History of cathode rays
13.3 The physics behind the experiments
13.4 The experimental set-up
13.5 How to determine the electron charge-to-mass ratio
Acknowledgements
Appendix
A Helmholtz coils
B Evaluation of the bending radius for the classical variant of the experiment
References
CH014.pdf
Chapter 14 The Millikan oil drop experiment
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Historical introduction
14.3 Description of the experiment
14.4 The dynamics of an oil droplet in a condenser
14.5 Description of the experimental apparatus
14.6 Measurement of the electric charge
14.7 The experimental procedure
14.8 Data analysis
Acknowledgements
Appendices
A. Moving in a viscous fluid
B. Corrections to Stokes’ law
C. The static method
References
CH015.pdf
Chapter 15 The Davisson–Germer experiment
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Historical introduction
15.3 Description of instrumentation
15.4 Measurement of the reticular step of graphite
15.4.1 Theoretical outline
15.4.2 Experimental part
Acknowledgements
Appendix
A Relativistic approximation
References
CH016.pdf
Chapter 16 Current transport and light emission in semiconductors: a simple way to determine the Planck constant
16.1 Introduction
16.2 The structure of matter
16.3 Electrical conductivity of materials
16.4 Semiconductors
16.4.1 Doped semiconductors
16.4.2 P–n junctions and diodes
16.5 Experimental determination of the Planck constant
16.6 Conclusions
References
CH017.pdf
Chapter 17 Graded exercises and problems in modern physics
17.1 Relativistic physics
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Exercise 11
Exercise 12
Exercise 13
Problem 1
Problem 2
Problem 3
17.2 Quantum physics
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Exercise 11
Exercise 12
Exercise 13
Problem 1
Problem 2
Problem 3
CH018.pdf
Chapter 18 Using applets to learn modern physics
18.1 Time dilation and length contraction shown in space–time frames
18.2 Finite potential well
18.3 Walking through the wall: the quantum tunnelling effect
Reference