School of Science and Engineering: Physics and Astronomy
2008-2009 Academic Year
681
PHYS 627 Biophysics of the Living Cell (3)
See Physics 327 for description.
PHYS 630 General Relativity (3)
Prof. Tipler. Prerequisites: PHYS 602 or MATH 221 and 235 or MATH 374.
Review of special relativity. Tensor analysis. Differential forms and manifolds.
Geodesics and curvature two-forms. The metric tensor. The stress-energy tensor
and the Einstein equations. The initial data problem. The Schwarzschild and Kerr
solutions: classical black holes. Elementary relativistic cosmology. Generation
and detection of gravitational waves. Experimental tests of general relativity: the
PPN formalism. Global techniques and the Hawking-Penrose singularity
theorems. Hawking radiation and the Bekenstein bound.
PHYS 660 Nanoscience and Technology (3)
Prof. Diebold. Prerequisite: PHYS 235. Nanoscience and technology is often
branded the science of the 21st century. It has been promised that nanotechnology
will have similar stimulating effects on the world's economy and society as the
industrial-and microelectronics- revolution. Nanoscience is an interdisciplinary
effort with the aim to manipulate and control matter at length scales down to
single molecules and atoms and thus to create materials and devices with novel
properties. With diminishing dimensions material properties are being governed
by quantum mechanics. The description and exploitation of quantum phenomena
in novel devices is the quintessence of nanophysics. Consequently, the main
emphasis of this course is to give an overview of the physics of low dimensional
solid state systems. This course is supplementary to courses in solid state physics
and surface science but can be taken independently.
PHYS 675 Modern Cosmology (3)
Prof. Tipler. Prerequisites: PHYS 423, 625, and 630. The Friedmann
cosmological models: open, flat, and closed; matter and radiation dominated. The
cosmological constant. Three degree blackbody radiation and its theoretical
implications. Experimental tests in cosmology. Nucleosynthesis and galaxy
formation. Anisotropic and inhomogeneous cosmologies: the Bianchi models,
primarily Kasner and Type IX. GUTs in the very early universe: baryogenesis and
phase transitions. Dark matter. Cosmic strings and magnetic monopoles.
Inflationary models. Chaotic inflation. Future history and final state of the
universe.
COURSES
The student who wants a one-semester survey of astronomy should take
Astronomy 100. Students who complete Astronomy 100 may not take Astronomy
101 or 102 for credit. The solar system is treated in more depth in 101. Similarly,
102 treats stellar astronomy in depth.
ASTR 100 Descriptive Astronomy (3)
Staff. A one-semester survey of astronomy for the liberal arts student. The solar
system, properties and evolution of stars and galaxies, and cosmology. Recent