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A Grand Tour of Physics Mathematics) : Quantum Mechanics

This document provides information about a lecture series on physics titled "A Grand Tour of Physics" being taught by Dr. George Derise at Thomas Nelson Community College in spring 2019. The series will cover topics in classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, special relativity, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and general relativity. It provides dates, times, location and contact information for the lectures. It also lists some reference books and websites relevant to the topics.

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rickyjames
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51 views65 pages

A Grand Tour of Physics Mathematics) : Quantum Mechanics

This document provides information about a lecture series on physics titled "A Grand Tour of Physics" being taught by Dr. George Derise at Thomas Nelson Community College in spring 2019. The series will cover topics in classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, special relativity, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and general relativity. It provides dates, times, location and contact information for the lectures. It also lists some reference books and websites relevant to the topics.

Uploaded by

rickyjames
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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QUANTUM MECHANICS

A GRAND TOUR OF PHYSICS

(WITH A BIT OF MATHEMATICS)

GENERAL RELATIVITY

MAR 22-APR 26, 2019 DR. GEORGE DERISE


1:30 – 3:30 PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MATHEMATICS
TNCC THOMAS NELSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ROOM 328. SPRING 2019
A GRAND TOUR OF PHYSICS
CLASSICAL MECHANICS

LECTURE 1

MAR. 22, 2019 DR. GEORGE DERISE


1:30 – 3:30 PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MATHEMATICS
TNCC THOMAS NELSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ROOM 328. SPRING 2019
A GRAND TOUR OF PHYSICS-DR. GEORGE DERISE
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MATHEMATICS
THOMAS NELSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE (HISTORIC TRIANGLE)
FRIDAYS; MARCH 22 – APRIL 26, 2019: 1:30 – 3:30; ROOM 328.

GOOD WEBSITES:
Hyperphysics: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/

Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/

Wikipedia: first paragraphs or introduction usually accessible.

YOUTUBE LECTURES: Just search appropriate topic "… youtube"

BOOKS:
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality: Brian Greene
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: Brian
Greene
Fearful Symmetry: A. Zee
Particle Physics in the Cosmos (Readings from Scientific American Magazine)
TOPICS:
1. CLASSICAL MECHANICS
2. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
3. QUANTUM MECHANICS
4. PARTICLE PHYSICS
5. GENERAL RELATIVITY
6. ADVANCED THEORIES-
SUPERSYMMETRY
QUANTUM GRAVITY- STRING THEORY
CONSTRUCTING THE UNIVERSE ?

CONCEPTS:
SYMMETRY
BEAUTY IN PHYSICS - IN MATH?
SIMPLICITY; ONE ‘THEORY OF EVERYTHING’?
GENERALIZATION
A BIT OF MATH??
Symmetry is a type of invariance: the property that
something does not change under a set of transformations.
“ I am quite convinced; and, believe me,
if I were again beginning my studies,
I should follow the advice of Plato
and start with mathematics,
a science which proceeds very cautiously
and admits nothing as established
until it has been rigidly demonstrated. ”

GALILEO GALILEI LINCEO


DIALOGUE ON THE TWO CHIEF WORLD SYSTEMS
1632
If you wish is to become really a man of science,
and not merely a petty experimentalist,

I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy,


Including mathematics.
THE UNREASONABLE EFFECTIVENESS OF MATHEMATICS IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES
EUGENE WIGNER
REAL WORLD:
RIGID BODY MOTION

IDEAL WORLD
PLATO; THEORY OF FORMS
GEOMETRY
The Pythagorean Proposition
Elisha S. Loomis
256 proofs!
SECOND EDITION: 370 PROOFS!
PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM WATER DEMO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAkMUdeB06o
b c

“MANN MUSS IMMER GENERALIZIEREN”


“One should always generalize”
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM GENERALIZED TO THREE DIMENSIONS
𝑎3   +  𝑏3   =  𝑐 3
𝑎4   +  𝑏4   =  𝑐 4
𝑎5   +  𝑏5   =  𝑐 5
         . . .
𝑎   +  𝑏𝑛   =  𝑐 𝑛
𝑛

If an integer n is greater than 2,


then the equation has no solutions
in non-zero integers a, b, and c.

FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM


(NUMBER THEORY)

Any relevance to physics at all?


AXIOMATIC METHOD (example: EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY)
1. Undefined terms ( point, line; plane; between)
2. Axioms ( given two distinct points, there exists one
and only one line connecting them.)
3. Definitions (angle, triangle, polygon)
4. Theorems (the sum of the angles of any triangle is
exactly 180 degrees…
the Pythagorean Theorem...
…There exists exactly Five Platonic Solids)

The primary criterion for an axiomatic system is...


consistency
REAL NUMBER SYSTEM; THE CONTINUUM
the order of magnitude of the earth-sun distance is 1011 m.
speed of light, c = 3 x 108 m/s; the order of magnitude of c is 108 m/s.
the size of the Milky Way Galaxy is 10 orders of magnitude greater than
the earth-sun distance.
KEPLER’S MYSTERIUM COSMOGRAPHICUM (1596)
“Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God”.
(letter to Galileo, 1610 )
WILLIAM THOMSON - LORD KELVIN
THE THEORY OF VORTEX ATOMS (1867)

Stability of atoms accounted for by the stability of knots.


Large number of knot types can accommodate all the different elements.
Vibrational oscillations of knots could be the mechanism for atomic spectral lines.
KEPLER: THREE LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION (1609-1619)

1. The orbit of every planet is an


ellipse
with the Sun at one of the two foci.
(1609)

2. A line joining a planet and the Sun


sweeps out equal areas during equal
intervals of time. (1609) “Geometry, which before the
origin of things was coeternal
3. The square of the orbital period of a
with the divine mind
planet is directly proportional to the
cube of the semi major axis of its orbit. and is God himself.”
(1619) HARMONICES MUNDI 1619
886.65 million miles

CURRENT VALUES:
Orbital Period 29.5 years
Semi-Major Axis 9.58 AU
D= 890.56 million miles
GALILEO
SIDEREUS NUNCIUS
1610
GALILEO

s = t2
s = 16t2
s = ½ gt2
s = 16 t 2
400 = 16 t 2
25 = t2
5= t

How long would it take to die when leaping off a 40 story building?
SIR ISAAC NEWTON
(1642-1726)
THREE LAWS OF MOTION, LAW OF GRAVITATION, INVENTED CALCULUS
PHILOSOPHIAE NATURALIS PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA
NEWTON; “HYPOTHESES NON FINGO”
E IS THE TOTAL ENERGY OF THE PARTICLE
John Couch Adams Urbain Le Verrier

MATHEMATICAL DISCOVERY OF NEPTUNE 1846


LAPLACE'S DEMON
the first published articulation of causal or scientific determinism,
Pierre-Simon Marquis de Laplace (1814).
If the Demon knows the precise location and momentum
of every atom in the universe,
their past and future values for any given time known by him,
the future and the past can be known precisely
from the laws of classical mechanics.

Pierre-Simon Laplace, "A Philosophical


Essay on Probabilities” 1814
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF CLASSICAL MECHANICS
Classical dynamical variables,
e.g. position, x
momentum, mv
kinetic energy, 1/2mv2
take on continuous values.

These dynamical variables satisfy


a law (usually a differential equation) GLOBAL
initial conditions and / or boundary conditions LOCAL

A state of a system is represented by giving the positions and velocities


of all the particles at a given time t.
This is equivalent to require the uniqueness of the solution of the
Newton's equations once initial conditions are specified.

CLASSICAL MECHANICS: DETERMINISTIC


.
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
In a closed system the total amount of energy is conserved
i.e. does not change.
Energy may change from one form to another,
but the total amount of energy in the closed system remains constant.
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
H=K+U
LINEAR PENDULUM ~ CIRCULAR TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS
LINEAR HARMONIC OSCILLATOR (SPRING) ~ UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
UNIFORM ROTATIONAL MOTION ~ LINEAR HARMONIC OSCILLATOR
UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
GRAPHED AS A TRIGONOMETRIC (CIRCULAR) FUNCTION
PROPERTIES OF WAVES
2015-04-22 at 2230 GMT,
left to right:
Europa, Io, Ganymede, Callisto.
https://astronomy.stackexchange.com

Newtonian Mechanics
A.P. French. 1971. p289
TRIGONOMETRIC (CIRCULAR) FUNCTIONS
FOR ONE PARTICLE TRAVELING IN 3 SPACE
WE NEED SIX COORDINATES;
THREE TO SPECIFY POSITION
THREE TO SPECIFY MOMENTUM,
THUS WE HAVE A 6 DIMENSIONAL SPACE.
TRUE PERIOD OF THE LINEAR PENDULUM
x

0 t
PHYSICS
FERMAT’S PRINCIPLE of LEAST TIME

Time for light to travel a given


distance is minimized
whatever shape a bubble has initially,
it will try to become a sphere.
sphere - the shape that minimizes the surface area
the shape that requires the least energy

“ACTION PRINCIPLE” IN PHYSICS


Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
“Les loix du movement…” 1746

“I…have discovered a universal principle on which all


laws are based… This is

the principle of least action


(a physical quantity called ACTION
tends to be minimized)
a principle so subtle as to be worthy of a supreme
being.”
NEWTON’S MECHANICS CAN BE DERIVED FROM
THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST ACTION
WHY DOES THE BALL FOLLOW A PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY?

THERE IS A MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION CALLED THE ACTION


MINIMIZE THE ACTION:
THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE EXACT PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY!
ACTION = SUM (KINETIC-POTENTIAL ENERGY)
RICHARD FEYNMAN: it [the particle] smells all the paths in the neighborhood and
chooses the one that has the least action
by a method analogous to the one by which light chose the shortest time.
TIME
NOETHER’S THEOREM:
CONSERVATION LAWS FOLLOW FROM THE SYMMETRY PROPERTIES OF NATURE.

If a system has a continuous symmetry,


then there are corresponding quantities
whose values are conserved in time.

If the Lagrangian is invariant under a


transformation, then there is a conserved quantity.

SPACETIME SYMMETRIES

INDEPENDENCE OF TIME → ENERGY CONSERVATION.

INDEPENDENCE OF POSITION → MOMENTUM CONSERVATION.

INDEPENDENCE OF DIRECTION →
ANGULAR MOMENTUM CONSERVATION.
CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS
EASIEST EXAMPLE:
FIND THE SHORTEST ARC LENGTH
BETWEEN TWO POINTS

GEODESICS
THE BRACHISTOCHRONE PROBLEM:

Find the shape of the curve


down which a bead sliding from rest
and accelerated by gravity will slip (without friction)
from one point A to another B
in the least time.
SOLUTION TO THE
BRACHISTOCHRONE PROBLEM-
THE CYCLOID

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