Spring 2015 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos CORE-UA 209 Professor Peter Nemethy SYLLABUS and COURSE INFORMATION. Office: 707 Meyer Telephone: 8-7747 ( external 212 998 7747 ) e-mail: peter.nemethy@nyu.edu Office Hours: by appointment. (Set up after class, by e-mail, or by calling) COURSE GOALS and DESCRIPTION: Modern science has provided us with some understanding of age old fundamental questions, while at the same time opening up many new areas of investigation. What are the constituents of matter and their interactions at the smallest scales? This is the world of Particle Physics. What is the evolution and behavior of the world at the largest scales, of stars and galaxies, of the Universe as a whole? This is the world of Astronomy and Cosmology. In this course we will examine the logic, observations, and scientific reasoning in both these disciplines, and learn of the breathtaking connections between the smallest and largest scales. PREREQUISITE: Prior completion of the MAP Quantitative Reasoning course or equivalent math preparation. LABORATORY INSTRUCTORS: Dun Wang e-mail: dw1519@nyu.edu Mohammad Shafi Mahdawi e-mail: msm550@nyu.edu Shahab Kohani e-mail: sk3431@nyu.edu Joyce Laine e-mail: laine.joyce@gmail.com LECTURES: Monday and Wednesday 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM Room 121 Meyer Hall LABORATORY SECTIONS: Room 161 Meyer Hall SECTION DAY TIME INSTRUCTOR Section 002 Wed 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM Dun Wang Section 003 Wed 3:00 PM - 4:40 PM Dun Wang Section 004 Wed 5:00 PM - 6:40 PM Mohammad Shafi Mahdawi Section 005 Thur 9:00 AM - 10:40 AM Mohammad Shafi Mahdawi Section 006 Thur 11:00 AM - 12:40 PM Shahab Kohani
Section 007 Thur 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM Shahab Kohani Section 008 Fri 11:00 AM - 12:40 PM Joyce Laine Section 009 Fri 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM Joyce Laine COMMUNICATION: Information about the course and announcements, assignments, reading, etc. will be through NYU Classes on NYU Home. TEXTBOOKS: 1. Author: Simon Singh Title: Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe Harper Perennial (November 1, 2005) ISBN-13 number: 978-0007162215 Paperback. Buy from NYU bookstore. 2. Author: Frank Close Title: Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press (July 29, 2004) ISBN-13 number: 978-0192804341 Paperback. Buy from NYU bookstore 3. Laboratory Manual for Quarks to Cosmos. Buy from NYU bookstore. ADDITIONAL READING: EBRARY Additional reading of single chapters from other books using the free online edition available through the Bobst Library s ebrary system. Go to http://librar.nyu.edu and click on E-Books. Create an ebrary account for yourself with a username and password. Do a search for the title, then save it on your ebrary bookshelf, for easy access at every new session. Download and/or print chapters as needed. NEW YORK TIMES Readings: One major goal of the course is to expose you to the wealth of research going on. To this end you must submit a weekly three-paragraph summary of one article on scientific research (not science -policy or local weather/storm news) in the New York Times science section. Submit each week to your TA via e-mail with the subject: NYT: Title of the article. COURSE GRADE : WEIGHTS of COURSE COMPONENTS Midterm Exam 20% Final exam 30% Lab 30% Homework 10% New York Times Reading 10%
LECTURES are central to the course, they provide the content and logical framework for all the material in the course. Attendance is compulsory. In preparing for exams, the lectures are your best guide to what I consider important in the course. LABORATORY SESSIONS: These weekly sessions are an important part of the course. You must be registered for one lab section, which will meet in Meyer 161. You will have to submit a lab report for each experiment performed. The lab report has to include answers to all questions and any data you may have collected, and results. Most lab reports can be completed within the lab period, however you will have no more than a week to submit the final report if you cannot do so in the lab session. The laboratory sessions will be held in Meyer 161 and will begin during the second week of the course. Attendance is compulsory. Before coming to each lab you must read its lab write-up in the Laboratory Manual; to enforce this, a quiz will be given at the start of some lab sessions. The lab instructor will deduct points from your lab grade for habitual late arrival. Late lab reports and late HW will be penalized. If you wish to submit a late lab report you must do so only at your laboratory instructor s office. Absence Policy. Absences from laboratory will be excused only in the case of illness (with a doctor s note) or the observation of a religious holiday. All other absences will be considered unexcused and will result in a lab grade of zero. You cannot make up a lab by attending a laboratory session that you are not registered for. Nor can you make up a lab in a subsequent week. Religious Holidays. If you will be absent from a lab or an exam for a religious holiday during the semester, you must inform both your lab instructor and Prof. Nemethy in writing, during the first two weeks of the semester. Lab Instructors Office Hours: Each lab instructor will hold a weekly office hour where you can discuss lecture and laboratory material, or other questions you have. Office locations and office hour schedule will be announced in lab. EXAMS: There will be a Midterm Exams and a Final Exam, both are multiple choice and are closed book open note-sheet (two sides of a single standard (8 ½ by 11 sheet) allowed. Relevant constants will be provided. Bring a calculator (that does not also function as a communication device). Please bring your NYU ID to all exams. The exams must be taken at the scheduled times. Bring a signed form from the Center for Students with Disabilities one week ahead of exam, if you need an exemption to this rule. There will be no make-up exams in the course. If you miss the Midterm Examination due to illness and provide documentation from a doctor you will be excused and more
weight will be given for your Final Exam. A missed Final Examination for a documented valid medical reason only will be dealt with using a grade of Incomplete. Without valid medical documentation, a zero will be assigned for any missed exam. Exams will be based on the lectures, your reading, and material from your laboratory sessions. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: No cheating, obviously! NYU regards academic dishonesty (including plagiarism, cheating on exams, falsification of records,.) as serious offenses, The college is committed to enforcing the NYU Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to Academic Integrity Procedures. COURSE TOPICS and LABORATORY SCHEDULE: Week of Tentative Lecture Topics (will evolve) Laboratory Jan. 26 Solar System, Earth vs. Sun Centered No Lab. models. Greek knowledge, Copernicus, Kepler Feb. 2 Galileo. Newton s Laws. Math Review (1) Gravitational and Electric, Magnetic Force. Feb. 9 Planetary Orbits, circular motion. Kinematics (2) The Electron, Nucleus, and Planetary Atom Feb. 16 Energy and energy conservation Newton s 2 nd Law (3) Monday: Holiday ( Pres. Day) Feb. 23 Waves. Light as EM Waves Young s Experiment (4) Quantization. Light as Particles Mar. 2 Quantum Mechanics Bohr Atom Clinic for Midterm exam Wave Particle Duality Matter waves Mar. 9 Nuclear, Atomic and Particle Physics Photoelectric Effect (5) Midterm Exam : Wednesday. Mar. 11 Mar. 16 SPRING RECESS NO CLASSES NO LABS Mar. 23 Particle Physics: Cosmic Rays, Accelerators, Spectroscopy (6) Experiments Mar. 30 Particle Physics : Quarks, Neutrinos Parallax (7)
Rotation in Galaxies & dark matter Apr. 6 Einstein and Special Relativity Inverse Square Law (8) Energy generation in stars. Apr. 13 Cosmology - Theories of Gravity Equivalence Principle (9) General Relativity, Black Holes Apr. 20 Cosmology - Red Shift, Hubble, Big Bang Cosmo Red Shift (10) Apr. 27 Cosmology the Big Bang and Cosmic Hubble s Law (11) Microwave Background May. 4 Cosmology modern observations and Clinic for Final Exam mysteries May 11 Monday last Class Outlook and future NO LABS Reading Day Tuesday May 12 Final Exam: Monday May 18, 10:00 AM 11:50 AM Frequently Asked Questions Q: I missed my lab because of sickness, can I make it up? A: No. The lab stations are disassembled every week and all labs are full, so there are no opportunities to make up labs. If you miss a lab, provide your TA and me with a valid doctor s note and that zero will not be counted against you. Q: I missed a lab or a test because I was sick, but didn t get a doctor s note. Can I still have that lab or test not counted? A: No. If you are too sick to be in class, that s very sick, extremely sick, even, yourparents-would-want-you-to-see-a-doctor sick, and you should see a doctor and get a doctor s note. Without a doctor s note, the grade is zero. Q: I missed the Midterm Exam, can I make it up? A: No. If you have a valid note from a doctor, you are excused and the final will have added weight. If you have no valid medical note, you will receive a zero. Q: I missed the final, can I make it up this semester?
A: No. There will be no makeup exams during the semester. A final exam missed for a valid and serious medical excuse may be dealt with by an Incomplete. Q: I m going to Aruba on the day before the midterm/final. Can I take it early? A: No! Sorry. Q: I have special needs for test taking, which the university is aware of. What should I do? A: No problem. Arrange it by seeing Prof. Nemethy with a signed form from the Center for Students with Disabilities. Q: Do I need to know all the material from the book? A: Exams are based upon lectures, labs, HW, and reading. Some material in the lectures will not be found in the two text-books, and there is a fair amount of material in both text-books that we will not use in the course. I will post chapters for reading weekly. The lectures will concentrate on what I consider most important in the course, Therefore your notes from lecture are your best input to what you should learn in the course. You should definitely ask a class-mate for his or her notes for a class that you miss. Other inputs to what you should know are the question sheets, our homework, and your laboratories. Q: Will you post the answers to the Question Sheets or HW online? A: No, but your TA's or I can discuss any questions or problems that daunt you or worry you during office hours or during the review sessions.