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PHYS 342
Fall semester 2013
Lecture 01: Historical Overview
Ron Reifenberger
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University
Lecture 01 1
2
How the development of
quantum physics enabled
todays amazing
technologies.
"If you haven't heard
something strange
during a PHYS 342
lecture, it hasn't
been much of a
lecture."
1click
The Real Storyline!
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National Academy of Engineering - Grand Challenges
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx
Solutionstomanyoftheseproblemswillrequireatransdisciplinary effort.
Most of the Physics you have already studied was
developed between ~1600 and mid 1800s. This body of
knowledge was essentially devised to correct Aristotle.
Aristotle placed great emphasis on reason just think
about a problem logically and you can solve it!
(refer to Euclids success in laying out geometry)
This approach gives rise to a culture in which only a few
know the accepted answers, while most do not.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newtonstm/
Historical Perspective
Mechanics
Magnetism
Optics
Electricity Thermo
~1800
~1700
~1600
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Aristotles dubious results regarding science:
Universe bounded by outermost sphere of stars
Earth is center of Universe
Four elements: earth, air, water, fire: This implies that
anything can be created from anything else just by
shifting the relative amount of the four elements.
A vacuum is impossible
There must be a vacuum between atoms, so matter
cannot be atomistic because a vacuum cannot exist
Time of its own nature is immutable
All objects move toward their natural place the center
of the earth for some objects, the heavenly spheres
for other objects (Aristotelian theory of gravity!)
Dense objects fall faster than light objects
Etc.
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Because experiment has shown time and again
that the rules of Nature have nothing to do with
common sense!
It took centuries to overcome
these misconceptions! Why?
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Galileos work around 1620 starts the
scientific revolution that culminates in 1686
when Newtons Principia is published. This book
explains the theory for understanding motion.
By ~1750, a new topic becomes popular
- Electricity -
By 1850, the fundamental laws of E&M are reasonably
well established at the macroscopic level.
With this understanding, Newtons Laws receive a new
challenge!
Electromagnetism and Electromagnetic Waves
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The Appendix gives a few examples that illustrate why Physics
was so confusing in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Topicsofinterest
forPHYS342
There are many other examples
consider q/m for electrons
consider X-rays
consider radioactivity
consider discrete line spectra
consider the Compton effect
consider electron diffraction
consider the photoelectric effect
consider semiconductors

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A prevailing theme is that time and again, the rules of
Nature have nothing to do with common sense!
A paradox is just a conflict between reality and what you
think reality ought to be R.P. Feynman
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QuoVadis?
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/HFrame.html
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Perhaps the greatest challenge of modern science
is to ask important questions in such a way that
they can be reduced into manageable solutions
UNKNOWN
KNOWN
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Vertical
Advances
UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
Light
Relativity
Nuclear
Physics
Atomic
Structure
Electron
States
T
i
m
e
UNKNOWN
Horizontal
Advances
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Weareattheverybeginningofthehumanraceanditisnotsurprisingthatwe
grapplewithunsolvedproblems.Therearetensofthousandsofyearsinour
future.Itisourresponsibilitytolearnwhatwecan,improvethesolutionsand
passthemon.R.P.Feynman
We will use all four levels of mathematics in
our study of modern physics
Functional relationships:
V=IR; Q=CV; F=-kx
Dynamical Models:
Differential equations
Probabilistic Models:
Boltzmann statistics, Fermi-Dirac statistics, etc.
Fields:
Electromagnetic field equations
The progress of science is marked by the
transformation of the qualitative to the quantitative
using mathematics. We know the scientific world
through four levels of mathematics
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Units of Measurement
Afewexceptions:electronvolt:1eV=1.602x10
19
J=23.05kcal/mole
Rydberg unitofenergy=13.6eV
atomicunitofenergy=Hartree unitofenergy=27.2eV
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MakeaPHYS342constantsnotecard
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Dont study like you eat!
Realize from Day 1 this class is not a recreational course; you will need to work at it.
Always be where you are supposed to be on time - Come to class and force yourself to take notes.
Bring a question to every class.
Listen to the Vocabulary the Words are Important!
Do not become speechless consumers of content; dont be afraid to ask So What?
Be aware of Oh, wow! moments
Work through many, many, many Confidence Building questions
Do the homework problems and study the solutions
Adopt the attitude What I cant calculate, I dont really know
Dont fall into the trap: Which formula do I plug into? Its OK to start at this point, but make sure
you follow up with an attempt to understand
Read many text books in parallel
Realize that in contrast to engineering, in physics its legal to be interested in something just
because it is interesting.
How to get the most from this course
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How to learn the material
1. Read about it (read textbooks)
2. Listen to someone discuss it (come to class,
view You Tube tutorials, etc.)
3. Work as many problems as possible (do the
homework, plus more)
Be honest about your understanding The first
principle is that you must not fool yourself -
unfortunately you are usually the easiest person
to fool.
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The Importance of Doing the Homework!
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50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0
T
o
t
a
l

E
x
a
m

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c
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TotalHomeworkScore
PHYS342Fall2011
Therewillberoughly60homeworkproblemsthissemester.
60problems=150points
1problem=2.5points(roughly)
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Two reasons you may find this course hard
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Reason 1: Physics is a that continually revisits,
reinforces, and refines your understanding of core concepts.
Take home message: If your understanding of core concepts
is weak, you may struggle in this course.
Reason 2: The route to continual progress is mathematics.
The dialect of the mathematical language used to give
directions to continual progress is calculus and differential
equations.
Very few people speak this language or have a strong interest
in learning it. As a consequence, progress is driven by a small
subset of the human race that speaks mathematics as a
second language. Take home message: If your understanding
of mathematics is weak, you may struggle in this course.
spiral subject
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What we will cover this semester is
not the final word its the first
approximation to understanding
phenomena at the atomic length
scale.
You probably will not remember many
of my lectures. But what you teach
yourself during this course, you will
never forget.
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A few things I know are true
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APPENDIX
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I. The Nature of Light
In 1864, Maxwell publishes his synthesis of E & M
and predicts an EM wave
Are there really such things as EM waves in
nature? How does one generate or detect such a
wave?
Light is especially peculiar you know when you
dont have it, and yet when you make it, it appears
instantly!
Is light an EM wave?
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5
th
Century BC (Greece) emission theory of light: light tangled with
seeing; light emanates from the eye like Supermans X-ray vision!
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rd
Century BC Euclid, Ptolemy light travels in a straight line with
infinite speed
1021 Alhazen (Iraq) - Book of Optics; explains refraction; implies that
light has finite speed
1638 Galileo proposes to measure the speed of light (with lanterns! )
1665 Grimaldi notices fuzzy light and dark bands near the edge of a
shadow
1690 Huygens - wave theory of light
1704 Newtons Opticks, view of light was corpuscular
1803 Young demonstrates interference and diffraction
1865 Maxwells wave equationpredicts velocity of EM wave (wrt a
lumiferous ether?)
1887 Michelson-Morely unable to detect the ether
1905 Einstein quantizes light to describe the photoelectric effect
1905 Einstein Special Theory of Relativity ties space and time together
Understanding light - a 2,500 year quest
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Continue to travel after the source is turned off
Propagate through empty space
Always travel at the same constant speed
Electric field is always perpendicular to the magnetic field
Velocity is perpendicular to both the electric field and
the magnetic field
Ratio of the peak electric field to the peak magnetic field equals
the speed of the wave
Properties of Electromagnetic Waves
(Maxwell 1865)

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SpeedofEMWaves(m/s)
RatioofPeak Fields(N/C)
DefinitionofWavenumber(m
1
)
FrequencyWavelengthrelationship
(m/s)
DefinitionofPoynting Vector(W/m
2
)
Energydensity(J/m
3
)
IntensityofEMWave(timeaverage of
Poynting vectorforsinusoidal,linearly
polarized ,planeEMwave)(W/m
2
)
MomentumTransfer (kgm/s)
(completeabsorption)
RadiationPressure(N/m
2
orPa)
(completeabsorption)
1
o o
c
c
=
2
k
t

f c
k
e
= =
1
o
S E B

=

2 2
2 max max max max
max
2 2 2 2
o
o o o
E B E cB c
I S E
c
c

= = = = =
max max
E cB =
;
U
p U u volume
c
= =
I
P
c
=
2 2
1 1
2
o
o
u E B c

| |
= +
|
\ .
Important Consequences: Electromagnetic Waves
0
c
+ V =
c

u
S
t
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T
II. Blackbody Radiation (1859/1879/1884)
Combining Thermodynamics with E & M
Thermodynamics is reasonably
well understood
E&M radiation is reasonably
well understood
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Can we combine these two separate disciplines to
explain the radiation emitted from a hot cavity?
energydensityu
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Just count all the
Standing E&M waves
modes -
Following Classical Physics:
E =0 at surface undamped modes
.......
.......
.......
.........
Diameter D
M
o
d
e
s

o
f

t
h
e

c
a
v
i
t
y
Wavelength,
E
m
i
t
t
e
d

I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

(
W
/
m
2

)
/

m
]
T=3000K
T=6000K
1000nm 2000nm
UV IR
visible
Classical
prediction
d
e
c
r
e
a
s
i
n
g

counting modes
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0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
u

[
i
n
1
0

1
6
(
J
/
m
3
)
)
/
H
z
]
wavelength(innm)
T=2000K
T=3000K
T=4000K
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| |
(
(
( (
(

(

B
2 -2
-1 3
3
k
hf 3 3
T
8f s
u(f)df = df units : J s = J/ m
c m / s
e -1
hf
Experiment is explained not by counting modes, but by
supposing the energy density of EM radiation of
frequency f in a cavity at temperature T is given by:
Plancks empirical formula (1900)
Its as if the EM
radiation field is
quantized in packets
with an energy equal to
hf.
h is adjustable constant = 6.63x10
-34
Js=Plancks constant
visiblelight