Physics 218 2003 Schedule

Lectures, reading and exams

James P. Sethna


Shown below is a tentative schedule for the course lectures and exams. The associated reading is from Elmore and Held (E&H), Physics of Waves, from Feynman's Lectures on Physics, Volumes I and II, and from Schroeder, An Introduction to Thermal Physics.
Date Lecture Reading
1. Friday Aug 29 Deriving the Wave Equation E&H 1.1, Feynman I.22-5/6
2. Monday Sept 1 Traveling Waves E&H 1.2, Feynman I.47-1
3. Wednesday Sept 3 Boundary Conditions
4. Friday Sept 5 Standing Waves, Resonance E&H 1.3-1.5, Feynman I.23
5. Monday Sept 8 Fourier Series E&H 1.6, 1.7
6. Wednesday Sept 10 Energy and Power E&H 1.8
7. Friday Sept 12 Momentum E&H 1.10, 1.11
8. Monday Sept 15 Reflection and Transmission E&H 1.9
9. Wednesday Sept 17 One-D Crystal
10. Friday Sept 19 Longitudinal Sound E&H 4.1 Feynman I.47-2,3
11. Monday Sept 22 Beats, Group and Phase Velocities E&H 4.7,12.1-12.5, Appendix C, Feynman I.48-1/4
12. Wednesday Sept 24 Dispersion Relations
13. Friday Sept 26 Finding New Laws
14. Monday Sept 29 Advanced Fourier E&H 12.6
Wednesday Oct 1 Review
Friday Oct 3 Prelim I
15. Monday Oct 6 Waves in Fluids: 3D E&H 5.1-5.7
16. Wednesday Oct 8 Snell and Thin Films
17. Friday Oct 10 To be announced
Monday Oct 13 Fall Break
18. Wednesday Oct 15 Interference Feynman I.29
19. Friday Oct 17 Multiple Slits Feynman I.30
20. Monday Oct 20 Diffraction Feynman I.30
21. Wednesday Oct 22 Tensors E&H 7.1, Feynman II.31
22. Friday Oct 24 Stress E&H 3.1-3.4, Feynman II.38-1/8
23. Monday Oct 27 Strain E&H 3.1-3.4, Feynman II.38-1/8
24. Wednesday Oct 29 Elasticity Theory E&H 7.2-7.3, Feynman II.39
25. Friday Oct 31 Elastic Waves E&H 7.5, Feynman I.51.3
Monday Nov 3 Review
Wednesday Nov 5 Prelim II
26. Friday Nov 7 Atoms in Motion Feynman I.1
27. Monday Nov 10 New Laws: the Diffusion Equation Feynman I.6
28. Wednesday Nov 12 Solving the Diffusion Equation Feynman I.43
29. Friday Nov 14 Random Walks and Diffusion Feynman I.41
30. Monday Nov 17 Kinetic Theory of Gases Feynman I.39
31. Wednesday Nov 19 Boltzmann Distribution Feynman I.40
32. Friday Nov 21 Applications of Kinetic Theory Feynman I.42
33. Monday Nov 24 Carnot and 2nd Law Feynman I.44
34. Wednesday Nov 26 Entropy Feynman I.45
Friday Nov 28 Thanksgiving Break
35. Monday Dec 1 Molecular Motors Feynman I.46
36. Wednesday Dec 3 Free Energy
37. Friday Dec 5 Heat Engines and Overview
Tuesday Dec 16 Final Exam, 9-11:30am, room to be announced