Physics 10-B,
Winter
2005
TuTh
4:40-6:00pm , 55 Roessler,
Discussion Groups:
· Discussion group B01
(CRN 86963): Tu 6:10-7:00pm, 148 Phys/Geo
Teacher: Professor
Ling-Lie Chau
UCD Physics Department
Office: 431
Phy/Geo; phone: 752-2715; e-mail:
chau@physics.ucdavis.edu
Office hour: 431 Phys/Geo; Monday
3:10-4pm, or by appointment.
Syllabus
Further Guidelines
for Homework
Guidelines for
study and for exam preparation
UCD Code of Academic Conduct
Grading and Bonus-point Policies
The Cosmos and String Theory
(the Theory of Everything)
* Learning, as non-scientists,
up-to-date information and current
understanding of our universe.
* Cultivating logical and
creative thinking.
* Developing the ability
to do “back-of-the-envelope” numerical
estimates (two significant figures).
* Promoting self-discipline
and participation skills and spirit.
* Making it a lifetime-enriching
experience .
Course Outline
· Powers of 10,
Significant Figures, and Units.
· Our Place in
the Universe
· The Science
of Astronomy
· A Universe of
Matter and Energy
· The Universal
Law of Motion
· Light: The Cosmic
Messenger
· Space and Time
· Spacetime and
Gravity
· Building Blocks
of the Universe
· Our Star,
and Properties of Stars
· Galaxies,
From Here to Horizon
· Dark Matter,
Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe
· The Beginning
of Time
Textbooks:
* J. Bennett, M. Donahue, N.
Schneider, and M. Voit, “The Cosmic Perspective,”
3RD ed., 2004.
* B. Greene,
“The Elegant
Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions,
and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory,” 1999,
with the 2003 Preface.
Web on Greene's
"The Elegant Universe"
Reading Assignments
Reference Web
Sites
Fractals: math, art, & infinite
possibilitues
Indras Pearls : math, art, &
infintie possibilities
Escher's endless gallery view
Escher's Official Site
Simulation of the End of the Cosmic Dark
Age, by Gnedin of Colorado U
Cosmic Reionization: the End of
the Cosmic Dark Age, observation by Becker et al & by
Djorgovski et al, 2001
Dark Energy Fills the Cosmos,
LBL, Berkeley, 1999
Nobel Prizes
Nobel Laureates
in Physics
to my.ucdavis.edu
to UCD Library Home
Books reserved for phy010B at Shields
to Patricia Schwarz's
web, Superstring
to collection
of superstring sites
to Cambridge
U Superstring web
to Wright's
Cosmology Tutorial
Curvature of the universe
to Hubble Space
Telescope Public Pictures
to Astronomy
Picture of the Day
to Imagine Site
of NASA
to Home page of NASA
to site
about geometry & fate of the universe
to site of Particle Data Group
to Chau's Davis Honors Challenge
2001 web
to Chau's Davis
Honors Challenge 2002 web
List of 10C (C for constancy)
10C/C0: To begin
with
10C/C1: G, Newton's
law of motion & universal law of gravity
10C/C2-3: c; Maxwell's
eqs for E&M; h, Planck's work;
E=mc^2, Einstein's special relativity
10C/C4-5: E=M^2, Einstein's special
relativity, and general relativity
10C/C6-7-8: Quantum Physics; Building Blocks of
the Universe; Standard Model & Gauge Principle
10C/C9-10: Grand Unification (GUT);
The Theory of Everything (TOE)
Guidelines for study and for exam preparation
Class Activities
Simulation
of cosmic ionization by the birth of stars
Cosmic ionization
Class 20, 3/15/05, Quiz
3, 5:00-5:50pm
Class 19, 3/10/05, Highlights
Recent
acceleration & past deacceleration of the universe
First Observed "Invisible" (Dark) Gallaxy, 2/24/05
Class 18 & Discussion
9, 3/8/05, Highlights
Evidence
of a supermassive blackhole (3.7M Sun mass) in the center of our galaxy
Fusion, fision, generation of energy , & making bombs
Credit
Fission & dirty bomb
Class 17, 3/3/05,
Highlights
Class 16 &
Discussion 8, Highlights & plans (Quiz 3 will be 5:00-5:50pm, Tu
3/15/05), & bonus project
Class 15, 2/24/05,
Quiz 2 & lecture
Periodic Table from cs.ubc.ca web site
Energy generation in the Sun & stars
Class 14 & Discussion
7, 2/22/05, Highlights
Four Laws of
Thermodynamics
Global Positioning System (GPS)
The Theory of Relativity
Credits
Class 13, 2/17/05, Preview
Announcement & Reminder
Class 12& Discussion
6, 2/15/05, Highlights
Reminder: Quiz 2, etc.
Class 11, 2/10/05, Highlights
& Bonus-pt Project
Announcements
Thursday classes
begin with a 5-to-8-min Bonus-pt exercise
Class 10 & Discussion
5, 2/8/05, Highlights
Class 9, 2/3/05, Quiz
1 & lecture
Class 8 & Discussion
4, 2/1/05, Highlights
Important Announcements
Important
Reminder: New HW due time, New Office Hours, Drop
Date, etc.
Class 7, 1/27/05,
Highlight
Taking square root without a calculator
Ellipse, semimajor, semiminor, eccentricity, etc
Class 6
& Discussion 3, 1/25/05, Highlights
Einstein's Miracle Year Centenary
More sites and Credits
Class
5, 1/20/05, Highlights
Class
4 & Discussion 2, 1/18/05, Highlights & Important Anouncements
The Ptolemy Universe
Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo,
Newton
MSNBC: Symphony of Everything
Scientific Scale (log10)
More sites and Credtit
s
Class 3, 1/13/05, Highlights
Class 2 & Discussion 1, 1/11/05, Highlights
1 L = 10^-3 m^3 = 10^3 cm^3, also see
a web about liter
Class 1,
1/6/05, Highlights
Units confusion bunrt the $125M
Mars Polar Lander
Useful web site on units:
site of Rowlett at U of N Carolina
Bees use vector analysis to find way home
;
More sites and Credit
s
The timeline of definition of the meter
Useful
web site on latest estimate of age of the universe
Useful web site on fundamental constants:
site of Particle Data Group
Below are future class dates
and links. Contents will be filled in and the links moved
up as the class progresses.
Cosmic Microwave (CMB) Anisotropy
Simulation of the End of the Cosmic Dark
Age, by Gnedin of Colorado U
Cosmic Reionization: the End of
the Cosmic Dark Age, observation by Becker et al & by
Djorgovski et al, 2001
Class 20, 3/15/05, Final Exam Reminder; Hightlights;
& concluding matters
Class 19, 3/10/05, Announcemetnts & Preview
Class 18, 3/8/05, preview; handing out graded
Quiz 3, etc.
Class 17, 3/3/05, Quiz 3
3/2/04 news, Water on Mars
Hint to HW8, SA8.2
Class 16, 3/1/05,
Highlights; Announcements
and Preview
Class 15, 2/24/05, Highlights;
Announcements & Preview
Blackhole
in NGC613, 65 Mly away
Periodic
Table from cs.ubc.ca web site
Wave Packet animations,
Rochester U web site
Hints to HW7
Class 14, 2/22/05;
Highlights
particle physics,
SLAC, Stanford, CA
particle physics,
CERN, European Center
particle physics,
Fermilab, IL
All
about known matter: ParticleDataGroup educational
site
Class 13,
2/17/05: Quiz2;
S4 of TB1: Building Blocks of the U
Futherest object (a galaxy,
13 Gyr away, Z~7) observed through gravitational
lensing, by Richard Ellis at al.
Futherest
object, from Astro-picture-of-the-day
Class
12, 2/15/05: Spactime & Gravity; Review for
Quiz2
Class 11, 2/10/05; Reminder of Quiz 2
Hulse & Taylor: new type of pulsar & gravitational
radiation
Rubbia & van der Meer: discovering force particles
(W & Z) of electroweak force, adding to the
photon
Glashow, Salam,
& Weinberg: electroweak theory
Yang & Lee: parity violation; Yang & Mills:
gauge symmetry
Penzias & Wilson: discovering cosmic microwave
background
Bethe: explaination of star energy
Pauli, 1945 Nobel
Prize: exclusion principle; quantum physics; proposed
neutirno
Davisson &
Thomson, 1927 Nobel Prize, showed the wave property
of electron in the 1920'
Schroedinger's wave eq. for partivles in 1926 &
Dirac's anti-matter in 1928 & 1930, etc. 1933
Nobel Prize.
De Broglie,
Nobel Prize 1929: theoretical discovery of wave properties
of particles in 192
Heisenberg:
uncertainty relations, etc.
Einstein: photo electric effect, special &
general relativity, Brownian motion, etc.
Michelson & Morley: Observing constant c, indepent
of motions of an observer
J.J. Thomson,
1906 Nobel Prize: Discovered electron in 1897
Lorentz of the Lorentz transformation, a forerunner
of Einstein and his special relativity
Class 10,
2/8/05,
Class 9, 2/3/05
Class 8, 2/1/05
Class
7, 1/27/05,
Quiz 1
Class 6, 1/25/05
Class
5, 1/20/05
Class
4, 1/18/05
Copyright c 2004
by Professor Ling-Lie Chau. Copyrights
reserved for all original material presented
in this course. Request for permission
or further information should be addressed
to Professor Ling-Lie Chau.
