THE
FACULTY
SENATE
Senate
Document Number 1007S
Date
of Senate Approval 01/18/07
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Statement
of Faculty Senate Action:
APC
Document 7: Consolidating Modern
Physics I and II into one course, PHYS 326
Expanding
Quantum Mechanics into two courses, PHYS 414 and 418
Effective Date:
Fall 2007
1. Delete: On
page 213, the title and course description for PHYS 324, 400:
324,
400 Modern
Physics I, II (3,3)
Special relativity,quantization, introductory
quantum mechanics with
applications to molecules, solids, nuclei and
elementary particles. Prerequisites:
CHEM 132 or a satisfactory score on the Chemistry
Placement Examination;
PHYS
222. Corequisite: PHYS 331. PHYS 324: Spring. PHYS 400: Fall.
Add: On page 213, the following title and course
description:
326 Modern
Physics (3)
Special relativity, quantization, fermions, bosons,
molecular physics, laser
physics,
solid state physics, nuclear physics and elementary particle physics.
Prerequisites:
CHEM 132 or a satisfactory score on the Chemistry Placement
Examination;
PHYS 222. Corequisite: PHYS 331. Spring.
Impact: This change will require no new staffing
or resources for the Physics Department.
Rationale: Modern Physics I contains introductory
quantum mechanics towards the end of the course. The level of math required for
the study of quantum mechanics is at a much higher level than the math needed
in Modern Physics II. Another drawback is that the quantum topics currently
come near the end of the semester in Modern Physics I, which tends to cause
these subjects to be rushed. We propose to merge Modern Physics I and Modern
Physics II together into one course, Modern Physics, removing the quantum
mechanics and placing it into Quantum Mechanics I. The math level of the new
course Modern Physics will be more consistent throughout the course.
2. Delete: On
page 213, the title and course description for PHYS 411:
411 Quantum Mechanics (3)
An intermediate study of quantum mechanics, including
applications to simple
systems,
angular momentum and scattering. Prerequisite: PHYS 401. Spring.
Add: On page 213, the following new titles and course
descriptions:
414 Quantum
Mechanics I (3)
Quantization, the uncertainty principle, the
Schrodinger equation, applications
of
quantum mechanics to one-dimensional examples, application of quantum
mechanics
to the Hydrogen atom, spin. Prerequisite: PHYS 326. Fall.
418 Quantum
Mechanics II (3)
An intermediate study of quantum mechanics, including
commutation relations,
Hamiltonians,
Hermitian operators, Dirac notation, and a study of Hilbert space.
Perturbation
theory will also be discussed.
Prerequisites: MATH 365; PHYS
401, 414. Spring
Impact: This change will require no new staffing
or resources for the Physics Department.
Rationale: With the merger of Modern Physics I and
Modern Physics II into one course, the quantum mechanics that had been studied
in Modern Physics I will be removed and placed into a separate course Quantum
Mechanics I. This will enable the math level of Modern Physics to be consistent
throughout the course. We feel that the coverage of introductory quantum
mechanics will be better grasped by the students if it is put into a separate
course by itself, namely Quantum Mechanics I.
The topics covered in Quantum Mechanics II will now benefit from
the students’ knowledge of Linear Algebra. Quantum Mechanics II will extend the
study of quantum mechanics beyond that in Quantum Mechanics I. Advanced topics
will be studied in Quantum Mechanics II, and it will be an enhanced version of
PHYS 411.