Physics-0

Time and venue:

Monday 9:50 am - 12:15 pm, 三教1206

Contact information:

Email: wangqrATmail.tsinghua.edu.cn

Office: Ning Zhai (宁斋) S02

Office hour: 10:00 am - 12:00 noon every Thursday. You can make other appointment if this regular time does not suit you.

Language:

Chinese, with lecture notes by English

Descriptions:

Physics-0 is a brief introductory course for the first-year undergraduate students. The goal is to help the students building a global picture about physics and getting used to the languages for further systematic studies on physics. Instead of detailed calculations, we will emphasize the philosophy or fundamental principles (which can be viewed as "axioms" in some sense) for several main subjects in physics. At the end of this course, we hope the students would get more familiar with the way of thinking in physics, and appreciate the connections and mutual benefits between mathematics and physics.

The topics of this course would include Newtonian dynamics, symmetries and actions, electromagnetism and electrodynamics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, special relativity, and quantum physics.

To better understand the roots of some physics subjects, the students are required to write a term paper on one of the selected classic treatises by ancient masters in both mathematics and physics (see the list below). The term paper could be any thoughts, understandings, clarifications, criticisms or … about the classics. It should be finished and sent to the instructor by email before the end of week 13 (that is May 22nd).

One of the 11 classes during this semester is reserved for physics experiments, or a visit to Tsinghua University Science Museum.

Tentative plans by weeks:

• Week 6: Introduction
• Week 7: Newtonian dynamics
• Week 8: Newtonian dynamics
• Week 9: Symmetries and actions
• Week 10: Electromagnetism and electrodynamics
• Week 11: Electromagnetism and electrodynamics
• Week 12: Experiments (?)
• Week 13: Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics
• Week 14: Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics
• Week 15: Special relativity
• Week 16: Quantum physics

References:

Since our course is a brief overview of several topics in physics, there is no standard single textbook in this course. But the following references may be helpful:

1. M. Spivak, Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I
2. D. Halliday, R. Resnick, J. Walker, Fundamentals of Physics《基础物理学》
3. R. Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics《费曼物理学讲义》
4. V. Arnold, Mathematical Understanding of Nature: Essays on Amazing Physical Phenomena and Their Understanding by Mathematicians

Selected classics for term paper:

1. G. Galilei (1638), Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences《关于两门新科学的对谈》
2. I. Newton (1687), Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy《自然哲学的数学原理》
3. J. Fourier (1822), The Analytic Theory of Heat《热的解析理论》
4. J. C. Maxwell (1873), A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism《电磁通论》
5. A. Einstein (1916), Relativity: The Special and the General Theory《狭义与广义相对论浅说》
6. E. Noether (1918), Invariant Variation Problems
7. H. Weyl (1927), Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science《数学与自然科学之哲学》
8. P. Dirac (1928), The Quantum Theory of the Electron
9. E. Wigner (1960), The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences《数学在自然科学中不可思议的有效性》
10. H. Weyl (1952), Symmetry《对称》

The above items can be found online or in the library. Those with Chinese titles are already translated into Chinese. You can also choose other classics you prefer for the term paper.

Gradings:

Homework 40%, term paper 30%, final exam 30%