Physics 203: Vibrations, Waves, And Special Relativity with Laboratory

Course Description
Download the Syllabus (.doc)

Syllabus

1.   Simple Harmonic Motion
             i)       Simple harmonic motion of mechanical and electrical oscillators
             ii)      Phasor diagrams, complex representation of SHMs
             iii)     Superposition of two SHMs, beats
             iv)     Superposition of two perpendicular SHMs, Lissajous figures
             v)      Linear and elliptical polarization, birefringence, liquid crystal displays 

2.   Damped Simple Harmonic Motion
             i)       Damped motion of electrical and mechanical oscillators
             ii)      Amplitude decay, energy decay, Q-value 

3.   Forced Vibration and Resonance
             i)       Complex impedance of electric circuits
             ii)      LRC circuits
             iii)     Resonance
             iv)     Power dissipation in a driven oscillation
             v)      The Q-factor, bandwidth
             vi)     Forced oscillation in mechanical systems, vibration insulation 

4.   Coupled Oscillations
             i)       A double-pendulum
             ii)      Normal modes and normal coordinates, degrees of freedom
             iii)     Energy and normal modes 

5.   Waves
             i)       The wave equation
             ii)      Sinusoidal waves
             iii)     Characteristic impedance of a string
             iv)     Energy transmission in a vibrating string
             v)      Reflection and transmission of waves at a boundary
             vi)     Impedance match
             vii)    Standing waves on a string
             viii)   Wave groups, group velocity, dispersion
             ix)     Transverse waves in a periodic structure
             x)      Linear array of two kinds of atoms in an ionic crystal, acoustic and optical modes
             xi)     Plane waves in more than one dimension  

6.   Fourier Methods
             i)       Application of Fourier series to a vibrating string
             ii)      Application of Fourier transform to a wave packet, dispersion
             iii)     Application of Fourier transform to damped oscillators, C.W. method, pulsed method, Lorentz line-shape
             iv)     Nuclear magnetic resonance 

7.   Electromagnetic Waves
             i)       Electromagnetic waves
             ii)      Reflection and transmission of light at interfaces, Stokes' relations, anti-reflection coating
             iii)     Dispersion properties of dielectric media
             iv)     Thin-film interference, fringes of equal inclination and fringes of equal thickness
             v)      Multiple-beam interference, Fabry-Perot interferometer, laser
             vi)     Huygens' principle
             vii)    Interference from linear array of N equal sources
             viii)   Transmission diffraction grating
             ix)     Single-slit diffraction
             x)      Fourier methods in diffraction theory
             xi)     Rayleigh's criterion 

8.   Relativity Principles
             i)       Galilean transformations
             ii)      Newtonian relativity
             iii)     Electromagnetism and Relativity
             iv)     Michelson-Morley experiment
             v)      The postulates of special relativity 

9.   Relativistic Kinematics 
             i)       The Lorentz transformations
             ii)      The relativity of simultaneity, causality
             iii)     Space-time diagram
             iv)     Length contraction
             v)      Time dilation
             vi)     Relativistic Doppler effects
             vii)    Relativistic addition of velocities 

10. Relativistic Dynamics
             i)       Relativistic momentum
             ii)      Relativistic force law
             iii)     Relativistic kinetic energy
             iv)     Energy and momentum
             v)      The equivalence of mass and energy