Waves and Optics

The second year of the physics curriculum focuses on oscillations, covering coupled oscillators and waves in the first semester and matter waves (quantum mechanics) in the second. This course introduces oscillations and waves in mechanical, electronic, and optical systems. The course also presents the relevant mathematical methods, including functions of complex variables, Fourier analysis and the eigenvalue problem. Topics include: free and driven oscillations, resonance, superposition, coupled oscillators and normal modes, traveling waves, \ud Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic waves, interference, and diffraction. We will only have time for brief coverage of optics. In addition, the mathematical methods you will study in this class are exactly what you will need next semester, when you begin your study of quantum mechanics