Online courses directory (2511)

This freshman-level course is the second semester of introductory physics. The focus is on electricity and magnetism. The subject is taught using the TEAL (Technology Enabled Active Learning) format which utilizes small group interaction and current technology. The TEAL/Studio Project at MIT is a new approach to physics education designed to help students develop much better intuition about, and conceptual models of, physical phenomena.

Acknowledgements

The TEAL project is supported by The Alex and Brit d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in MIT Education, MIT iCampus, the Davis Educational Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Class of 1960 Endowment for Innovation in Education, the Class of 1951 Fund for Excellence in Education, the Class of 1955 Fund for Excellence in Teaching, and the Helena Foundation. Many people have contributed to the development of the course materials. (PDF)

This course explores successful approaches to delivering healthcare in challenging settings. We analyze organizations to find why some fall short while others grow in size and contribute to the health of the people they serve, and explore promising business models and social enterprise innovations.

Mechanical vibrations and waves, simple harmonic motion, superposition, forced vibrations and resonance, coupled oscillations and normal modes, vibrations of continuous systems, reflection and refraction, phase and group velocity. Optics, wave solutions to Maxwell's equations, polarization, Snell's law, interference, Huygens's principle, Fraunhofer diffraction, and gratings.

This class is an introduction to studies in science, technology, and society (STS), through examining a series of issues, events, conflicts, and problems as illuminated by STS approaches. This iteration includes units on the Aaron Swartz case, photography, and utopia / dystopia. There are regular guest speakers, and several field trips to encourage hands on learning.

Together, this course and 8.06 Quantum Physics III cover quantum physics with applications drawn from modern physics. Topics covered in this course include the general formalism of quantum mechanics, harmonic oscillator, quantum mechanics in three-dimensions, angular momentum, spin, and addition of angular momentum.

8.06 is the third course in the three-sequence physics undergraduate Quantum Mechanics curriculum. By the end of this course, you will be able to interpret and analyze a wide range of quantum mechanical systems using both exact analytic techniques and various approximation methods. This course will introduce some of the important model systems studied in contemporary physics, including two-dimensional electron systems, the fine structure of Hydrogen, lasers, and particle scattering.

This course, which concentrates on special relativity, is normally taken by physics majors in their sophomore year. Topics include Einstein's postulates, the Lorentz transformation, relativistic effects and paradoxes, and applications involving electromagnetism and particle physics. This course also provides a brief introduction to some concepts of general relativity, including the principle of equivalence, the Schwartzschild metric and black holes, and the FRW metric and cosmology.

This is the first course in the undergraduate Quantum Physics sequence. It introduces the basic features of quantum mechanics. It covers the experimental basis of quantum physics, introduces wave mechanics, Schrödinger's equation in a single dimension, and Schrödinger's equation in three dimensions.

This presentation of 8.04 by Barton Zwiebach (2016) differs somewhat and complements nicely the presentation of Allan Adams (2013). Adams covers a larger set of ideas; Zwiebach tends to go deeper into a smaller set of ideas, offering a systematic and detailed treatment. Adams begins with the subtleties of superpostion, while Zwiebach discusses the surprises of interaction-free measurements. While both courses overlap over a sizable amount of standard material, Adams discussed applications to condensed matter physics, while Zwiebach focused on scattering and resonances. The different perspectives of the instructors make the problem sets in the two courses rather different.
 

This course covers probability distributions for classical and quantum systems. Topics include: Microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical partition-functions and associated thermodynamic potentials. Also discussed are conditions of thermodynamic equilibrium for homogenous and heterogenous systems.

The course follows 8.044, Statistical Physics I, and is second in this series of undergraduate Statistical Physics courses.

This course introduces string theory to undergraduate and is based upon Prof. Zwiebach's textbook entitled A First Course in String Theory. Since string theory is quantum mechanics of a relativistic string, the foundations of the subject can be explained to students exposed to both special relativity and basic quantum mechanics. This course develops the aspects of string theory and makes it accessible to students familiar with basic electromagnetism and statistical mechanics.

8.321 is the first semester of a two-semester subject on quantum theory, stressing principles. Topics covered include: Hilbert spaces, observables, uncertainty relations, eigenvalue problems and methods for solution thereof, time-evolution in the Schrodinger, Heisenberg, and interaction pictures, connections between classical and quantum mechanics, path integrals, quantum mechanics in EM fields, angular momentum, time-independent perturbation theory, density operators, and quantum measurement.

8.322 is the second semester of a two-semester subject on quantum theory, stressing principles. Topics covered include: time-dependent perturbation theory and applications to radiation, quantization of EM radiation field, adiabatic theorem and Berry's phase, symmetries in QM, many-particle systems, scattering theory, relativistic quantum mechanics, and Dirac equation.

8.323, Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I, is a one-term self-contained subject in quantum field theory. Concepts and basic techniques are developed through applications in elementary particle physics, and condensed matter physics.

This course is the second course of the quantum field theory trimester sequence beginning with Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I (8.323) and ending with Relativistic Quantum Field Theory III (8.325). It develops in depth some of the topics discussed in 8.323 and introduces some advanced material.

This course is the third and last term of the quantum field theory sequence. Its aim is the proper theoretical discussion of the physics of the standard model. Topics include: quantum chromodynamics; the Higgs phenomenon and a description of the standard model; deep-inelastic scattering and structure functions; basics of lattice gauge theory; operator products and effective theories; detailed structure of the standard model; spontaneously broken gauge theory and its quantization; instantons and theta-vacua; topological defects; introduction to supersymmetry.

Statistical Mechanics is a probabilistic approach to equilibrium properties of large numbers of degrees of freedom. In this two-semester course, basic principles are examined. Topics include: Thermodynamics, probability theory, kinetic theory, classical statistical mechanics, interacting systems, quantum statistical mechanics, and identical particles.

This is the second term in a two-semester course on statistical mechanics. Basic principles are examined in this class, such as the laws of thermodynamics and the concepts of temperature, work, heat, and entropy. Topics from modern statistical mechanics are also explored, including the hydrodynamic limit and classical field theories.

This is the first term of a theoretical treatment of the physics of solids. Topics covered include crystal structure and band theory, density functional theory, a survey of properties of metals and semiconductors, quantum Hall effect, phonons, electron phonon interaction and superconductivity.

This is the second term of a theoretical treatment of the physics of solids. Topics covered include linear response theory; the physics of disorder; superconductivity; the local moment and itinerant magnetism; the Kondo problem and Fermi liquid theory.

This course covers the concepts and physical pictures behind various phenomena that appear in interacting many-body systems. Visualization occurs through concentration on path integral, mean-field theories and semi-classical picture of fluctuations around mean-field state.