FINAL PAPER FOR PHY201 - CONCEPTS OF PHYSICS - 2012

The paper should be "long enough to cover the subject yet short enough to hold the interest" -- for instance, between 12 and 16 double-spaced pages (about 3500 words), not including the bibliography or any figures you choose to include.
It should critically examine a scientific topic which builds on material we have discussed in class, but going either further or deeper than we have during the course. It is expected that you will consult a range of published sources, and use proper footnotes (or endnotes) and a complete bibliography. The paper should demonstrate your ability to analyze conceptual questions about the science critically, making logical arguments and distinguishing areas where reasonable people could differ from those where the answer is more or less clear-cut.

The paper will be due on the last day of class (Tuesday, December 4th), but will only be accepted if you have first
(a) submitted a proposed title to your TA by approval (due 3 November); and
(b) submitted a partial bibliography and/or rough outline to your TA for approval (due 17 November).

The title & outline/bibliography will not be graded, but will give your TA an opportunity to provide feedback lest you pursue a topic which doesn't really fit the parameters of the assignment (which could prevent you from getting a good grade on the paper itself).

Some possible titles might include:

• The evolution of ideas of locality in classical and modern physics
• The uses of entanglement for quantum information processing
• Thermodynamic and cosmological arrows of time
• The "clockwork universe": arguments over determinism in classical and modern physics
• Loopholes in experimental tests of Bell's Inequalities
• Possible interpretations of quantum mechanics
  (e.g., Copenhagen, many-worlds, Bohm, …)
• Different perspectives on the reality of Lorentz contraction and time dilation
• Fundamental symmetries and their violation
• The problem of reconciling general relativity with quantum mechanics
• How strong is the evidence for the quark model?
• "Interaction-free measurement" is a misnomer
• How much of general relativity is supported by experimental evidence, and how much still admits possible alternatives?
• The discovery of dark matter, and what we currently know about it
• The origin of order in a world where entropy increases
• Feynman diagrams and antimatter as electrons travelling backwards in time
• Possibilities for time machines following the laws of physics (as we currently understand them)

Feel free to consult me and/or the TA's for advice about these or any other topics, and/or for help in tracking down some initial sources if necessary.

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