PHY 198

Physics at the Cutting Edge

Topics

This course is intended to provide a qualitative view of front line research in physics as represented by the weekly Physics Colloquium. The aim is to provide a connection between the rigorous and quantitative tools that students learn in traditional courses and present-day science. Weekly readings will be provided to give students background to both better understand colloquium and to interact intelligently with the colloquium speaker. When possible, students will be given an opportunity to meet with the colloquium speaker, learn about their scientific experience, hear about the big open questions in the field, and ask questions. Class time will also involve a seminar on a topic related to the general area of the Physics Colloquium for that particular week. This will involve a related area of front line research, provide some background physics to the colloquium, and give some orientation to the subject.

While other undergraduate courses in physics provide quantitative tools that rigorously treat idealized model systems, they often oversimplify real-life problems. Also in the lengthy process of acquiring tools to solve physics problems, one often loses sight of the forest among a thicket of trees. This course is intended to provide a balance to the standard training in the discipline of physics by exposing students to real-life problems and motivating their concurrent quantitative study of physics. At the same time course will aim to expose students to famous laws and fundamental equations of physics (e.g. Maxwell's equations, Schrodinger's equation, E=mc² etc.) so that when these are encountered later in undergraduate studies, students will already have some intuition for them.

In addition to attending the scheduled class times (Thursdays from 2:10-3:45pm in MP606) students are expected to attend the weekly physics colloquium that takes place right after class (from 4-5pm in MP102). A weekly report describing what students learned from the colloquium and their in-class interactions with speakers will be an integral component of the course grade.