Feynman Lectures on Physics

Who Is Feynman?
 Born:
– 11th May 1918
– Far Rockaway, Queens, NY
 College:
– MIT
– Princeton
– Cornell (braved a snow-
storm here !)
– Caltech
 Work
– Los Alamos
Feynman’s Works

 Feynman Lectures – Caltech

 The “Unconventional” approach
 Other works
– QED
– The Character of the Physical Law
– Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman !
Quantum Mechanics as Physics Not
Philosophy

 Feynman’s views on the subject

– Philosophy does not contribute to “advance”
– A “working” method
– The “Observer” issue
– Typical Feynman
Quantum Behavior:
The Interference Pattern (Bullets)
The Interference Pattern (waves)
The Interference Pattern (electrons)
The Interference Pattern (electrons
when observed !!)
The Quantum BIZARRE

 “Itis impossible to design an apparatus to

determine which hole the electron passes
through that will not at the same time disturb
the electrons enough to destroy the
interference pattern”
– Heisenberg (says Feynman in his lecture)
 “Logical tight-rope” walking
Quantum Mechanics Principles

2
P=φ  P = Probability
 Ф = Amplitude
φ = ∑ φi
i
Uncertainty

 Special Case: If one knows the momentum of

a particle to an uncertainty of Δp, then she/he
cannot at the same time know the position
more accurately than Δx = h/Δp
 Uncertainty Principle “protects” quantum
mechanics
Experimental setup demo for UP
One Example of UP

po λ
∆p = po ∆θ =
B
The Size of the Atom
Spread in momentum = h/a
• a is like radius
Momentum must be of order p ~ h/a
1 2 p2 h2
Kinetic Energy = mv = =
2 2m 2ma 2

h2 e2
Total Energy = 2ma 2 − 4πε a
0
The Size of the Atom
The “Philozophigal” implications
 Disturbance is necessary for consistence of
the viewpoint
 Was sound made ? Vs. Was there a
sensation of sound ? – The role of a
conscious observer in a forest/physics?
 “No measure” implies “No speak” is a false
implication
 The basis of a science is its ability to predict
Feynman Lectures on Physics

-A rather short introduction

By Srinivasa

Thank you all!!