Physics III Readings


This will change often. Don't print this out; check back frequently.

Handouts from Class

Parts of the Course

In the first two-thirds of this course we'll go through Styer's book, taking a brief detour to cover some ideas from probability theory. This is useful math to know, and it seems natural to spend a little time on it in this class.

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.


Reading

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



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