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Elements of Modern Physics

By Prof. Saurabh Basu   |   IIT Guwahati
Learners enrolled: 582   |  Exam registration: 7
ABOUT THE COURSE:
The course encompasses a large spectrum of topics under the umbrella of ‘Modern Physics’. Very few courses or books cover such a vast number of topics that are essential for every scientist and engineer to learn. The course covers review of classical physics, emergence of old quantum theory, basic quantum mechanics, its postulates and applications on a variety of systems, introduction to linear algebra for notations used in modern quantum physics, Lasers, statistical physics, Solid State Physics, Nuclear Physics and an introduction to elementary particles. Apart from the usual course curriculum for colleges and universities across the country, the course will be useful the first or second year undergraduates (B.Sc in Physics and Chemistry), first year post graduates (M.Sc), for preparation of recently introduced CUET (UG and PG) and civil services exams.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: B.Sc and M.Sc students

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Any engineering company will value the course.
Summary
Course Status : Upcoming
Course Type : Core
Language for course content : English
Duration : 12 weeks
Category :
  • Physics
Credit Points : 3
Level : Undergraduate
Start Date : 20 Jan 2025
End Date : 11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends : 27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends : 14 Feb 2025
Exam Date : 04 May 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.


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Course layout

Week 1:  Reviews of Classical Physics, Lagrangian Formalism, Special Theory of Relativity, Length Contraction, Time Dilation, Lorentz Transformation, Mass Energy Equivalence
Week 2: Structure of an Atom, Bohr quantization, Angular momentum, Rurtherford Scattering, Correspondence Principle, Spectral lines, Blamer, Lyman, Bracket, Pfund series
Week 3: Stern Gerlach Experiment, Planck’s Radiation law, Wave-particle duality, de Broglie relation, Photoelectric and Compton Effects, Probabilistic interpretation, Uncertainty Principle, Phase and Group velocities
Week 4: Postulates of Quantum Mechanics, superposition principle, Dirac’s bra-ket notation, Solution of Schroedinger equation in one-dimensional problems, Particle in a box, Barrier transmission problems, Harmonic Oscillator, Bound states
Week 5: Solution of Schroedinger equation in 3D. Hydrogen atom, degeneracies, Elementary ideas of Perturbation theory, splitting of energy levels, Stark and Zeeman effects
Week 6: Time dependent perturbation theory, Einstein’s A, B coefficients, Stimulated Emission and Absorption, Electron spin, spin-orbit coupling, Total Angular Momentum, LS, JJ Coupling, Clebsch-Gordon coefficients
Week 7: Basics of electromagnetism, Electric and Magnetic Fields, Poynting Vector, Maxwell’s equations, Propagation of electro-magnetic waves in vacuum and medium
Week 8: Statistical description of matter, Elementary idea about ensembles, Microcanical, Canonical and Grand canonical ensembles, Liouville’s Theorem, Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB), Bose-Einstein (BE) and Fermi-Dirac (FD) distributions,
Week 9: Applications of Bose Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics, Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC), properties of free Fermi Gas, Pauli paramagnetism
Week 10: Solid State Physics, Lattice vibration, Specific heat of solids, Semiconductors, p and n type semiconductors, elementary ideas of Magnetism and Superconductivity
Week 11: Elementary Nuclear Physics, Binding energy, Shell model, Liquid drop model, Nuclear forces, Radioactivity, half-life, alpha, Beta and gamma decay, Fission and Fusion
Week 12: A short introduction to Elementary particles, Leptons and quarks, Elements of the Standard Model.

Books and references

1.Concepts of Modern Physics by A. Beiser, Mcgraw Hill (2003)
2.Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, by R. M. Eisberg and R. Resnick, Wiley (1985)
3.Modern Physics, by K.S. Krane, Wiley (2016)

Instructor bio

Prof. Saurabh Basu

IIT Guwahati
Prof. Saurabh Basu is currently a professor at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. Saurabh does research in theoretical Condensed Matter Physics with a focus on graphene, Quantum Hall effect, topological insulators and ultracold atoms. The current projects include Edge states in adatom decorated graphene and other two dimensional Dirac materials, transmission through spin-orbit coupled Nano-junctions, phase diagram and tunneling dynamics of bosons in optical lattices, non-Hermitian systems, higher order topology, skyrmions etc. He has offered several courses in MOOCS, such as, Advanced Condensed Matter Physics, Advanced Quantum Mechanics with Applications, A brief course on Superconductivity, Numerical Methods and Simulation Technique in Science and Engineering, Quantum Hall effect etc. which have received tremendous attention from the students, teachers and researchers.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams:May 4, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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