PHYS 402 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Description

Physics 402 is a comprehensive course on the fundamentals of (mainly) classical optics, geometrical optics and action principles, matrix techniques for ray tracing, mechanics of classical waves with emphasis on energy and momentum, light in matter and optical dispersion, polarization effects such as birefringence, wave packets, optical modulators such as phase retarders, interferometry, Kirchhoff, Fresnel and Fraunhofer theories of diffraction and holgraphy. Other advanced topics, such as nonlinear optics and basic concepts in quantum optics, will be studied if time permits.

This course is aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and other areas of science or engineering, who plan to pursue research or a career in optics or who simply are interested in deepening their knowledge of the subject. The purpose of this course is not to teach all of optics, which could never be covered in a single course, but to cover the foundations of the subject in enough depth to prepare you for any area of specialization.

Text

Optics, 5th Edition, Eugene Hecht (4th Edition is also acceptable)

The book is available in an electronic version, but you cannot use electronic text in the exams

Lectures

Lectures will be given in Loomis 136 TR 11:00AM-12:20PM for a limited number of students. Live lectures will also be available via Zoom and recorded. Please note that you will need to login to your UIUC Zoom account in order to join the lecures remotely. Links to both live and recorded lectures will be posted on the schedule section of the course website. Lecturer notes and/or slides will also be posted there; these notes are meant to be used as a reference to the material covered at the lecture and not to replace your own notes. Please read the assigned sections in the text before class (see schedule). Lectures are inspired by the text but will take a different treatment of some of the topics.

Homework

The homework will be posted in the schedule section of the course website. Homework submission is via GradeScope. Please upload completed homework by the due date and time, which will be indicated in the homework file. Late homework will not be accepted unless prearranged with the course director. There will be 12 Homework assignments, out of which the 10 best will be used to calculate the final grade. Note that exam questions will be written with the assumption that students know how to solve all of homework problems!

Labs

Every student will be assigned to perform five distinct lab experiments. Each lab takes two sessions (i.e., 2 weeks) to complete. Experiments are performed in pairs, where one student is on-site conducting the physical part the experiment, while the other joins remotely to participate in data collection, analysis and literature search.

Please comlete the laser safety training on the DRS (Division of Research Safety) website https://www.drs.illinois.edu prior to your first laboratory class!

An acceptable lab writeup should have the following components:

Abstract: Single paragraph on the purpose and conclusions of the experiments performed in the lab. Please do not plagiarize the purpose/introduction sections from the lab manual.

Apparatus/Instrument: Should include a diagram of the experimental set up with the critical components labeled. Explain the basic principles behind how the instrument works.

Procedure: Write down what you did, for example how you aligned the instrument, samples you made, and data you took. If it isn't immediately clear (as judged by your lab TA) where the measurements you report came from you may not receive credit for the lab.

Results and Discussion: Present raw data, graphs, calculations. Show one clear example calculation if you have to compute a value based on the measurements. Include units. If there was a pre-lab, include answers at the beginning of this section. Did your results match what you expect? What were the sources of error? Can the experiment be improved?

Please submit lab writeusp by uploadeding them to the Phys 402 couse server (you may use the Submit link). Writeups should be about 5-10 pages in length, which, once a diagram of the apparatus, the raw data, and the calculations are included, is a lot less space than you might think. Labs are pass/fail, and you pass as long as you made a "good faith" effort to complete the lab, and your lab report demonstrates a reasonable understanding of what happened. 

Exams

The Midterm exam will take place during class time (see schedule). The final is 180 min (date and time TBA). This course uses the College of Engineering Computer-Based Testing Facility service CBTF Online for its exams. Submission of solutions is through GradeScope. The exams are open book and may be taken with the assistance of any printed material associated with the course, including the text, homework, lecture notes, etc.. Calculators are also allowed. Any other electronics, or visiting any website, is not allowed unless is needed for the purpose of downloading the exam, uploading your answers, or for the CBTF service. You will NOT be allowed to access any electronic copy of the textbook, HW, or anything else.

The policies of the CBTF are the policies of this course, and academic integrity infractions related to the CBTF are infractions in this course.

If you have accommodations identified by the Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES) for exams, please email your Letter of Accommodations (LOA) to CBTF Manager Carleen Sacris at sacris1@illinois.edu before you make your first exam reservation.

If you have any issue during an exam, please inform the proctor immediately. Work with the proctor to resolve the issue at the time before logging off.

Review all instructions on the CBTF website before your first exam: https://cbtf.engr.illinois.edu/cbtf-online/index.html

Office Hours

Please refer to the Contact information section for office hours

Discussions and Feedback

We shall use Campuswire as a platform for Q&A and discussions. Here you can post questions to the class in the relevant category (e.g., Homework #3). You may, if you wish, post your questions anonymously.
Students can and encouraged to answer other students’ questions.
In the “comments” category, please post any feedback that may help me improve the course. Remeber, you may post anonymously.
If, by the time of the first lecture, you have not received an invitation to join the class on Campuswire, please let me know