This will change often. Don't print this out; check back
frequently.
Styer's book is great; it's not very mathematical, though. So for the remaining third of the course we'll work through the same material again, this time in a much more mathematical way. For this part of the course, we'll use Spins and Quantum Measurement, by David McIntyre. I think that the opportunity to see two different presentations of the same phenomena will give us a chance to think some about different levels of explanation, and ponder to what extent mathematicizing something is helpful in explaining it.
We can do lots of adjusting mid-course. If you don't like Styer's book and are hungering for more, we can move through it more quickly.
Class | Date | Reading | Comments |
1 | Tuesday, January 7 | No reading |
|
2 | Friday, January 10 | Styer Chapters 1, 2, and 3 |
|
3 | Tuesday, January 14 | Styer Chapters 4 and 5 |
|
4 | Friday, January 17 | Styer Chapter 6, Mermin article | |
5 | Tuesday, January 21 | Probability | |
6 | Friday, January 24 | Probability | |
7 | Tuesday, January 28 | Styer Chapter 6, Mermin Physics Today Article | |
8 | Friday, January 31 | Styer Chapter 8 | |
9 | Tuesday, February 4 | Styer Chapter 9 | |
10 | Friday, February 7 | Styer Chapters 10, 11. Feynman Lectures? | |
11 | Tuesday, February 11 | Styer Chapter 12 | |
12 | Friday, February 14 | Styer Chapter 14 | |
13 | Tuesday, February 18 | Styer Chapter 15 | |
14 | Friday, February 21 | McIntyre | |
15 | Tuesday, February 25 | McIntyre | |
16 | Friday, February 28 | McIntyre | |
17 | Tuesday, March 4 | McIntyre | |
18 | Friday, March 7 | McIntyre | |
19 | Tuesday, March 11 | McIntyre | |
20 | Friday, March 14 | McIntyre | |
[Back to the Physics III Home Page]