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Modern Physics Pre-Collegiate

Feb 10, 2025

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The Modern Physics Pre-Collegiate course, provided by Stanford University, is tailored to mirror the university's physics curriculum, focusing on the two core aspects of modern physics: relativity and quantum mechanics. The course was originally developed by Professor Mason Yearian in 1996 and underwent a significant revamp in 2010 to concentrate solely on these two pillars of modern physics. The curriculum delves into the geometrical structure of spacetime, exploring kinematical effects, spacetime metrics, Lorentz transformation, relativistic momentum and energy, and dynamics through a spacetime diagrammatic approach based on the principle of special relativity and causality. The quantum mechanics portion concentrates on observable with discrete eigenvalues, such as polarization. It offers a deep exploration of Hilbert space, quantum states, operators acting within Hilbert space, entanglement and Bell inequalities, time evolution, uncertainty relations, and solutions to the Schrödinger equation for simple one-dimensional systems. The course format is online and requires students to have completed the Light and Heat course and have Linear Algebra as a corequisite. The course utilizes textbooks such as "Spacetime Physics" by J. Wheeler and E. Taylor, "Quantum Mechanics" by L. Susskind, and "Six Quantum Pieces" by V. Scarani to supplement the teaching materials. While not explicitly mentioned, the course's advanced nature and focus on complex physics and mathematics imply that it is designed for students with a solid foundation in these areas. As a result, the course enhances students' understanding of modern physics concepts, equipping them with advanced knowledge in relativity and quantum mechanics.

written by

Rishab Jain

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