Friday, March 28, 2008

Announcements:

Assignments:

Chapter 13 - Quantum Physics - "probably the most successful theory ever invented" (Hobson, p.299)

This chapter synthesizes many concepts from previous chapters.
Quantization of energy
    Examples of quantization
    Digital versus analog:  digital = discrete, binary (1 or 0); analog = continuous
    Application:  quantum computing
    Terminology:  What is meant by a "quantum leap"?
Light is a wave in an EM field.  What is "waving"?  [the field]
Planck's constant (h) and quantization:  En = nhf,   where h = 6.63 x 10-34 J*s  (note:  this is a very small number!)
1 photon = 1 quantum of energy:  hf
photons are not really particles but "wave packets"
    Can we see individual photons?
Photons and photoelectric effect - energy, work function, cutoff frequency, max K
   KEmax = E - Wo
Einstein is most famous for his theory of relativity and E = mc2, but he won the Noble prize in physics (1921) for his discovery of the photoelectric effect.
Double-slit experiment with light and matter - similar results, therefore both behave like waves!
The wave nature of matter and matter fields
The de Broglie wavelength, wave-particle duality:  lambda = h/mv
    Wavelength and resolution
X-ray diffraction
electron microscope
Probability density distributions
Quantum uncertainty:  Heisenberg uncertainty principle:  x*mv > h/2pi;   E*t > h/2pi
Schroedinger's equation
Critique of the movie trailer from Down the Rabbit HoleThe Double Slit Experiment