Fall 2006, PHY300

Waves and Optics


   
Meeting Time and Place: Instructors:
MWF 10:40AM-11:35AM, Physics P-122 (lecture)
Thurs 2:20PM -  4:20PM, Physics A-124 (lab)
Prof. Dominik Schneble (lecture), A-106, Office hours: Wed 12:30-2PM
Prof. Ralf Averbeck (lab), C-103, Office hours: Fri 10-noon
 
Juhee Hong (TA), A-105, Office hours: Fri 2-3PM
 

Grading:
HW 20%, Midterm Exam 20%, Final Exam 30%, Laboratory work 30%
(minimum 9 labs, see below)
 

 

Lecture

Topics:
Free oscillations, driven oscillations and resonance, normal modes for coupled oscillators and continuous media, traveling waves; Maxwell's equations and wave equation for light, polarization, reflection and refraction, coherence and interference, diffraction, ray optics, Gaussian beams.

Textbooks:
Vibrations and Waves, by A.P. French (Norton)
Modern Optics, by G.R. Fowles (Dover)
Some nice simulations/animations of the topics discussed can be found here.

Homework assignments:
(1) French, chapter 1: #1,2,5,6,8 and chapter 2: #1,2,3,4

due: September 15

solutions
(2) French, chapter 3: #1,2 and chapter 4: #3,5,10 due: September 22 solutions
(3) French, chapter 5: #2,4,8,9 due: September 29 solutions
(4) French, chapter 6: #1,2,6,11 due: October 6 solutions
(5) French, chapter 6: #12 and 7: #1,2,4,5 due: October 18 solutions
(6) Fowles, chapter 1: #7 and 2: #3,4,5,8,12 due: November 3 solutions
(7) Fowles, chapter 2: #17,19,20 due: November 13 solutions
(8) Fowles, chapter 3: #2,5,7 due: November 17 solutions
(9) Fowles, chapter 4: #1,3,5,7 due: November 27 solutions
(10) Fowles, chapter 5: 4,9,12 due: December 6 solutions
(11) Fowles, chapter 10: 4,5 (extra: 6,7) due: December 15 solutions

HOMEWORK RULES: The homework will be collected in class on Friday following the week in which it is assigned, and it will be graded.  You may work together on solving the problems, but cannot hand in the same solutions. We have a small class, and will be on the watch for this kind of problem. Solutions will be posted after  the homework is collected. Therefore, late papers will NOT be accepted.
 

Midterm exam: October 20, 2006 -- practice midterm&solutions

Final exam: December 22 (Friday) 8am-10:30am- practice final

 

Laboratory

 

September 7 No lab, but read writeup on error propagation
September 14 Lab 1: resonance
September 21 Lab 2: coupled oscillators
September 28 Lab 3: speed of sound
October 5 Lab 4: transmission line
October 12 Makeup lab
October 19 No lab
October 26 Lab 5: Polarization
November 2 No lab
November 9 Lab 6: Michelson Interferometer
November 16 Lab 7: Fabry-Perot Interferometer
November 23 No lab
November 30 Lab 8: Diffraction
December 7 Lab 9: Optical instruments
December 14 Makeup lab/Lab 10: Gaussian beams


LAB RULES: You will be required to perform the experiments described in the laboratory manuals. Before you begin these you must present a writeup as you enter the lab. Nobody can perform an experiment without presenting the writeup FIRST. Your writeup should describe the physical ideas you plan to explore, the way you will go about exploring them, and your anticipated results. It need not be more than a page or two, but it is not length-limited either. Write it into your lab notebook and have the lab TA sign it. This writeup will not be graded but the TA's approval and signature are required BEFORE you can start on the experiment.

After you have completed your measurements, recorded in your lab books immediately following the writeup you have prepared before, you have to analyze your results and compare with the expectations in your writeup. The full lab report must be submitted to Prof. Schneble's mailbox before the Physics Department office closes at 4:30 PM on the Monday following Thursday's lab. That is, you have not much time to complete it, so you need to be well-prepared beforehand. The lab report will be graded on a scale from 0 to 10. Your grade does NOT depend on whether you got agreement of your results with the expectation, but only upon how well you perform your work.

You have to complete AT LEAST nine of the ten labs scheduled for this semester. If you miss a lab you can make up for this on one of the two scheduled make-up dates. If you have one lab missing at the end of the semester this will be graded as zero score. If you have more than one lab missing you will  FAIL the course no matter how well you perform in the other parts of this course.



SPECIAL NEEDS. IF you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your courxe work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC Building Rm 128, (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential. Students requiring emergency evacuation are encouraged to discuss their needs with their professors and Disability Support Services. More information at http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/disabilityservices/