Fundamentals of Physics, II - Audio Ramamurti Shankar
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- Science
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This is a continuation of the introductory course on the principles and methods of physics for students who have good preparation in physics and mathematics. This course covers electricity, magnetism, optics and quantum mechanics.
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25 - Quantum Mechanics VII: Summary of postulates and special topics
The various postulates of quantum mechanics treated in previous lectures are reviewed and summarized. The uncertainty principle is again discussed and a new one between energy and time is introduced. The quantum mechanical behavior of an electron in a hydrogen atom is described. The principles of quantum mechanics are then generalized to describe two or more quantum particles. It is shown that identical particles have to be bosons or fermions, the latter obeying the Pauli exclusion principle, which in turn is key to explaining the periodic table.
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24 - Quantum Mechanics VI: Time-dependent Schrödinger Equation
The time-dependent Schrödinger Equation is introduced as a powerful analog of Newton's second law of motion that describes quantum dynamics. It is shown how given an initial wave function, one can predict the future behavior using Schrödinger's Equation. The special role of stationary states (states of definite energy) is discussed.
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23 - Quantum Mechanics V: Particle in a Box
The allowed energy states of a free particle on a ring and a particle in a box are revisited. A scattering problem is studied to expose more quantum wonders: a particle can tunnel into the classically forbidden regions where kinetic energy is negative and a particle incident on a barrier with enough kinetic energy to go over it has a nonzero probability to bounce back.
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22 - Quantum Mechanics IV: Measurement Theory, states of definite energy
It is shown how to extract the odds for getting different values of momentum from a generic wave function by writing it as a sum over functions of definite momentum. A recipe is given for finding states of definite energy, which requires solving a differential equation that depends on what potential the particle is experiencing. The particle in a box is considered and the allowed energies derived.
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21 - Quantum Mechanics III
The fact that the wave function provides the complete description of a particle's location and momentum is emphasized. Measurement collapses the wave function into a spike located at the measured value. The quantization of momentum for a particle on a ring is deduced.
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20 - Quantum Mechanics II
Lecture begins with a detailed review of the double slit experiment with electrons. The fate of an electron traversing the double slit is determined by a wave putting an end to Newtonian mechanics. The momentum and position of an electron cannot both be totally known simultaneously. The wave function is used to describe a probability density function for an electron. Heuristic arguments are given for the wave function describing a particle of definite momentum.
Customer Reviews
Dr. Shankar Does It Again!
These lectures are related to his previous podcast: but this time it specializes on electromagentism, Maxwell's equations, wave mechanics,geometrical optics, and quantum mechanics. This podcast is a bit more complex than his lectures on elementary physics, since the math is unfamilar and the ideas are more abstract. But Professor Shankar does an excellent job to keep his students and podcast listeners intrigued by explaining complicated technical material to his class using simple English. I am optimistic that the next lectures that Yale University will improve their audio and video content. There are alternatives to this podcast that other universities offers, Walter Lewin and Leonard Susskind are terffic examples; but Shankar lectures are the best on iTunes and it should stay that way.
Duplicates missing video
This is an absolutely wonderful course, but despite Prof. Shankar's mellifluous voice, the video lectures seem to be audio only, and this is something you must really see. Download the version of this course with over 100 reviews instead please! I had the pleasure of taking this class while he was teaching it, and he really is a master at work. One of the reasons I became a physics teacher myself.
Tasito.
El contenido esta equilibrado y tiene mucha teoría básica que indiscutiblemente es imprescindible dejar pasar por alto. Es decir en el estudio de esta materia este es un instrumento mas de apoyo, el docente esta experimentado y refleja el contenido de cualquier material didáctico.
Recomiendo escuchar todo el contenido.