PHYS 214 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Required Materials
Web Information
This course uses the Web extensively. Internet access and a Web browser are required for:
- prelecture notes and checkpoints
- homework
- grade book
- access to lecture slides
- discussion problem solutions
- access to most class handouts.
Computers with appropriate web browsers are available in Technology Services, Engineering Work Stations and housing division computer labs.
Required Materials
For Lecture
- Something to take notes with.
- iClicker
For Discussion
- Your laptop or tablet
- Calculator (with trig, exponential and log capabilities)
- Discussion materials for Physics 214, which are linked from the schedule
For Lab
- Your laptop or tablet
- Calculator (with trig, exponential and log capabilities)
Homework, Checkpoints, Prelectures
Strongly Recommended Materials
- Moore, Six Ideas That Shaped Physics - Unit Q: Particles Behave Like Waves
Useful Reference Books (on reserve in the Library)
- Wolfson, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 2
- Tipler, Physics, Volume 2
- Halliday, Fundamentals of Physics, Part 2
- Serway, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 2
- Custom version of University Physics with Modern Physics by Young \& Freedman (12th Edition, 2008)
Where to Go Next?
Several students have asked where they can go for further reading on some of the topics we covered in this course. So I've put a few thoughts below: suggestions welcome!
Textbooks
There are many good introductory textbooks on quantum mechanics, each taking a different perspective and starting point. In addition to the recommended books listed above, you might consider:
- Feynman, Leighton, Sands, The Feynman Lectures of Physics: Volume III - Quantum Mechanics (url). Feynman moves fast but brings an inimitable and conversational style. Great for insight, but there are no student problems.
- Townsend, Quantum Physics: A Fundamental Approach to Modern Physics. This is the Physics 485 textbook, and strikes a good balance between a modern conceptual (and mathematical) approach and useful applications without going as deep into the weeds as Physics 486/487.
Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
In class we talked about how wave functions relate to the probabilities of measurement results. This lets us reliably predict the results of measurements, and in a sense that's all we really need. But it left us with some thorny questions: what counts as a "measurement", and why does a measurement seem to "collapse" the wave function? There are a number of interpretations of this, that go under names like Copenhagen, Many-Worlds (Everett), Consistent Histories, etc. While philosophically distinct, unfortunately these are very hard to distinguish experimentally - their practical predictions agree!
Entanglement and quantum weirdness
In our last lecture we discussed the strange correlations among measurements of entangled particles, and how this disagrees with our intuitions about "local realism". Not only are these correlations really observed, there is an important theorem (Bell's theorem) about measurement probabilities that can be used to distinguish the predictions of quantum physics and local realism, and experiments confirm the quantum results. There is a nice discussion of Bell's theorem in the Afterword of D.J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, and here are couple of more recent articles in Quanta about Bell's theorem and Bell tests.
Other fun stuff
Some good video series on physics concepts:
- Sean Carroll's The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
- Some good videos here