Lab 1 - Intro to 492
Materials presented in class:
Lab 1 - Self Assessment (PDF File)
... which generated this fringe pattern after passing through a double slit on the glass Cornell plate. These fringes are an example of interference. Interference will be a strong theme throughout the course.
I took this photo with my cell phone. Cell phones are great gadgets for recording experiments: setups, data, screenshots, interference patterns, group photos, what-not. Get in the habit.
We're off to a good start, almost too good with 15 students attending the first session. For those of you who are not yet registered, just a reminder to get that taken care of soonest. At some point you'll need to do extra paperwork to add, so why wait until then?
Aside from the long intro lecture, the remainder of the course will follow the same general pattern established in the first class. We'll meet in BioSci 245 for maybe half an hour, forty-five minutes first. There we'll go over the plan for the day, demonstrate preparedness, have a quick lecture, and do a Quantum Snippet. The Quantum Snippets are bite-sized pieces of quantum mechanics that prepare us for a theoretical understanding of future lab results.
Our Quantum Snippet today was on the mathematics of QM, introducing the idea of linear vector spaces. The mathematics of QM is the mathematics of linear vector spaces, very different from the mathematics of classical mechanics and electromagnetism. I went over a couple of the key aspects of linear vector spaces, which were the closure relations (first 2 properties below). There are other aspects too, likely very familiar to you. Here's the whole set:
And additionally,
T1 + T2 = T2 + T1
This last set of properties should be familiar as the common rules of arithmetic when T are the real numbers and the addition and multiplication operations are the familiar ones. Since the real numbers are in fact closed under these rules of addition and multiplication, they form a linear vector space. It is instructive to think about some things that are and are not linear vector spaces. A good place to start is this page giving examples and exercises.
After the Snippet, which will be a general feature of the first part of class, we went across the way to the lab where Professor Terebey gave a short safety and lab rules briefing. Then we turned on the laser...
Quantum Snippet: Linear Vector Spaces
Let S be a set of things T and let addition and scalar multiplication be defined on S. Then S is a linear vector space if the following hold:
Let S be a set of things T and let addition and scalar multiplication be defined on S. Then S is a linear vector space if the following hold:
For all T1 and T2 in S, T1 + T2 is also an element of S
For all T1 in S, and scalars a, aT1 is also an element of S
And additionally,
T1 + T2 = T2 + T1
(T1 + T2) + T3 = T1 + (T2 + T3)
T1 + 0 = T1 for some element 0 in S
There is a -T1 in S for every T1 in S such that T1 + (-T1) = 0
a(T1 + T2) = aT1 + aT2
(a+b)T1 = aT1 + bT1
(ab)T1 = a(bT1)
1T1 = T1
This last set of properties should be familiar as the common rules of arithmetic when T are the real numbers and the addition and multiplication operations are the familiar ones. Since the real numbers are in fact closed under these rules of addition and multiplication, they form a linear vector space. It is instructive to think about some things that are and are not linear vector spaces. A good place to start is this page giving examples and exercises.
After the Snippet, which will be a general feature of the first part of class, we went across the way to the lab where Professor Terebey gave a short safety and lab rules briefing. Then we turned on the laser...
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| Young's double slit experiment |
I took this photo with my cell phone. Cell phones are great gadgets for recording experiments: setups, data, screenshots, interference patterns, group photos, what-not. Get in the habit.
A note about class/lab hours. This is a 3-credit class, which means you are expected to spend 9-12 hours a week in and out of class/lab combined per week. The formal class hours are just under 3 hours a week, so that means there will be a substantial time commitment outside those hours. I will generally hold the lab open for an extra hour (or more) and encourage you to use that time. It will be the most convenient. I will also hold the lab open by arrangement for a few hours on alternate Fridays, starting October 5. You will absolutely need to use most of these times to complete your lab work so you should plan to do so. You will also need a comparable amount of time for lab prep, organizing your lab notebook, doing reading & research, and putting together your final presentation. Be sure to budget this time.
Just a reminder to be sure to download the Lab 2 prep package (next post) and complete it before we meet again. We'll do the prepared/not-prepared check where you each get 30 seconds to demonstrate preparedness.
And thanks to those who've already sent me an email. You've given me a good start on the class email list.
And thanks to those who've already sent me an email. You've given me a good start on the class email list.
