OPTI 511R: Optical Physics and Lasers, Spring 2006
Instructor: Prof. Brian P. Anderson, Optical Sciences
General Course Information (moved to bottom of this web page)
Corrections to Homework, Notes, and Handouts
Class details [back to top of page]
Spring 2006
TTh, 11:00 - 12:15 AM
Location: Harvill 211
Instructor:
Prof. Brian Anderson (faculty
web page)
Office: Meinel 632
Phone: 520-626-5825
email:
brian.anderson@optics.arizona.edu
Office hours and recitation section:
In addition to my open door
policy (i.e, if my door is open, even just barely, stop by anytime. If I'm busy, I'll let you
know...),
Regular office hours:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 2:30
- 4:00 pm (distance students may call in, but local students are given
priority)
Distance students call-in office
hours: Tuesdays, 4:00 - 5:00 pm (local students may stop by, but
distance-learning students are given priority)
Recitation section (as needed) led by
TA:
Tuesdays, 5:00 - 6:00 pm, Meinel room 422
Exceptions: no office hours or
recitation section during Spring Break.
TA:
Chad Weiler
Office/Lab: Meinel 572
Phone: 626-2836
email: weiler@optics.arizona.edu
Homework grading policy: TBA
Exams:
First mid-term exam: in class,
Thursday, Feb. 23
Second mid-term exam: in class,
Thursday, Apr. 6
Final exam: in class
on May
9, from 11 AM to 1 PM. This time/date is set by the University, and
can not be changed.
Distance-learning students:
Distance students will have homework due dates and exam deadlines that will be a few days (up to 1 week) after the in-class students' deadlines, in order to allow for delays in receiving and watching recorded classes. Further policies for distance students will be described later.
Homework and other Handouts [back to top of page]
Corrections and Clarifications to Homework, Notes, and Handouts [back to top of page]
01/19/06 Corrections to HW 1
02/20/06 Corrections to Notes (p. OR-18)
02/20/06 Corrections to HW 1 solutions (updated 02/22/06)
03/09/06 Corrections to Notes (p. 167) and Lecture clarification (03/09/06)
03/28/06 Notes page 194 Revised (PDF, 1 page,~210 KB)
Homework Solutions [back to top of page]
Calendar (will be
updated as needed) [back to top of page]
(Homework due dates and exam dates are for local students)
JANUARY
Thurs, Jan 12
Lecture 1:
Optical resonators, resonator stability, resonator modes
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
OR1 - OR12
Tues,
Jan 17
Lecture 2:
Resonator modes, Gaussian optics expressions
Pass out HW 1
Laser/cavity modes demonstration
NO RECITATION SECTION TODAY
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. OR13 - OR25
Thurs, Jan19
Lecture 3:
Intro to quantum mechanics,
Matter waves, Probability amplitude and
probability density, particle in a box
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 1
- 20
Tues, Jan 24
Lecture 4:
Determinism, wavefunctions, expectation values, operators, measurements
Pass out HW 2
RECITATION SECTION TODAY, 5pm,
Meinel 422
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 21-31
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 2 - 17 (wavefunctions, statistics, normalization,
expectation values)
Thurs, Jan 26
Lecture 5:
Localized particles, wavepackets, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
HW 1 due
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
31-43
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 17-19
Tues, Jan 31
Lecture 6: Sch, Eq.,
TISE, postulates of QM
Pass out HW 3
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
44-55
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 1-2, 20-24
FEBRUARY
Thurs, Feb 2
Lecture 7:
Physically acceptable wavefunctions, solving the TISE, particle in a box
HW 2 due
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 56-63
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 24 - 30
Tues,
Feb 7
Lecture 8: Finite square well,
Graphical qualitative solutions to TISE
Pass out HW 4
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 64-76
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 60-64 (Mathematical solution to finite square well)
Thurs, Feb 9
Lecture 9: Quantum
harmonic oscillator, ladder operators
HW 3 due
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
78-90
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 31-44
Tues, Feb14
Lecture 10:
N particle systems, Hydrogen atom, central potentials, radial and angular equations
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
91-103
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 121-129
Thurs, Feb 16
Lecture 11:
Hydrogen atom full solution, hydrogen spectrum, operator approach to angular
momentum
HW 4 due
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 104-117
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 129-149
Tues, Feb 21
Lecture 12:
Eigenstates of angular momentum operators, Hilbert space
Pass out HW 5
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 117-130
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 149-153, 75-80, 100-120 (has lots of good examples not
covered in class).
Thurs,
Feb 23
EXAM 1
- Covers all material through Lecture 11 and HW 4
Tues, Feb 28
Lecture 13: Matrix
representation of quantum states and operators, Spin
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 131-142
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 154-156
MARCH
Thurs,
Mar 2
Lecture 14: Spin,
spin ½ particles
Pass out HW
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 143-155
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 157-159
Tues, Mar 7
Lecture 15:
Electron in magnetic field, Stern-Gerlach experiment
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
156-158, Midterm Exam 1 review
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 160-164
Thurs, Mar 9
Lecture 16:
Identical particles, bosons, fermions, the real hydrogen atom
Pass out HW 7
HW 5 due
for on-campus students (due March 15 for distance students)
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
159-170
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 177-181, 189-191, 235-243, 250-251
Tues,
Mar 14 & Thurs, Mar 16
SPRING BREAK
(no lectures, office hours, or recitation section)
Tues, Mar 21
Lecture 17: Interaction of light and matter, two-level
systems, electric dipole approximation, dipole matrix elements, Rabi
oscillations
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p.
171-184
GRIFFITHS GUIDE: p. 298-306
Thurs, Mar 23
Lecture 18: Rabi
oscillation frequency and amplitude
Pass out HW 8
HW 6 and HW 7 are both due for
on-campus students (due March 29 for distance students)
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 185-191
Tues, Mar 28
Lecture 19: Calculating dipole matrix elements, selection
rules, absorption and emission of radiation,
NO RECITATION SECTION TODAY
COVERED IN
CLASS: Notes, p. 192-204
Thurs, Mar 30
Lecture 20: Multichromatic fields, polarizations,
spontaneous emission, Einstein A&B coefficients, excited state lifetime,
absorption in a gas
RECITATION SECTION TODAY: 5-6 pm
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 204 - 221
APRIL
Tues, Apr 4
Lecture 21:
absorption coefficient, absorption
lineshapes, broadening, hole-burning, Lamb-dip spectroscopy
HW 8 due
Pass out HW 9
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 222 - 232
Thurs, Apr 6
EXAM 2
- Covers all material through Lecture 20, HW 8
(Exam due by 1pm, Wed. April 12 for
distance-learning students)
Tues, Apr 11
Lecture 22:
Quantum theory of light, vacuum fluctuations
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 233 - 242
Thurs, Apr 13
Lecture 23: Photon
number distributions, Coherent states
HW 9 due
Pass out HW 10
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 243 - 252
Tues, Apr 18
Lecture 24:
Introduction to lasers, Gain coefficient
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 255 - 265
Thurs, Apr 20
Lecture 25:
Threshold condition, Onset of lasing, steady-state lasing, Pumping and
population inversion, Rate equations
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 255 - 277
HW 10 due
Pass out HW 11
Tues, Apr 25
Lecture 26:
CW lasers, Q-switching
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 278 - 287
Thurs, Apr 27
Lecture 27: Q-switching, Mode-locking, Mode control, Other laser properties,
diode lasers
COVERED IN CLASS: Notes, p. 288 - 295
MAY
Tues, May 2
Lecture 28: Review and recap of important subjects
HW 11 due
No recitation section today
Tues, May 9,
11am-1pm in class
FINAL EXAM
General Course information [back to top of page]
Spring 2006
TTh, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Location: Harvill 211
Course description
OPTI 511 is an
introduction
to basic concepts of optical physics and the
interaction between light and matter. This course is designed to give
optics students a broad understanding of the generation and absorption of light
by matter, and how light can be used to manipulate properties of matter
and be manipulated by matter.
In this course, basic ideas from quantum mechanics will be introduced and used to develop
the concepts of atom/light interaction, and the quantum nature of atoms and
optical fields will be explored. The basic properties of lasers will be briefly discussed
in a few lectures near the end of the semester. Please note that this
course no longer covers an introduction to nonlinear optics.
While previous courses in physics would indeed be
helpful, this course is designed to be accessible to students who have a general
science or engineering
background and basic familiarity with using complex numbers, matrices, and
differential equations. Previous courses in quantum mechanics are
NOT needed.
Course emphasis
Because this is an
introductory course covering many topics, this course will not develop
detailed exploration of the subjects that will be covered. If you have further interest in
any of the course topics, other specialized classes cover the subjects in
detail. In this respect, OPTI 511R covers material that is fundamental to
many other Optics courses in quantum optics and photonics. In OPTI 511R, an emphasis will be placed on the learning of
new concepts, rather than detailed mathematical derivation of all of the
subjects. Many of the concepts of quantum mechanics and quantum optics may seem
strange and nonintuitive. For some of these concepts, an initial (perhaps
tentative) acceptance will
be needed until they become more
familiar. The math used in this
course is generally not difficult. However, learning the mathematical formalism
and the application of the mathematical tools can be tricky and confusing. Many
simple tricks and approximations exist to solve problems, some of which we will
explore.
The language of optical physics and quantum mechanics can
also be confusing at times. Previously familiar words take on new meanings or new
mathematical formalism, and a single concept can have various mathematical
representations or notations on paper. As in most scientific
disciplines, different authors and instructors use different symbols to
represent identical concepts. In this course, it is the concept that is of
primary importance; given a symbol or a problem, you must interpret the
expression or method to solve the problem, and extract the relevant concepts.
Recommended texts
This class does not have a required textbook.
The recommended textbook is "Introduction to Quantum
Mechanics" by David Griffiths (Prentice Hall, 1995). This book will be
paralleled for about half of the semester as the concepts of quantum
mechanics are introduced and developed, and until the basic properties of
light/matter interaction have been introduced. If you have never had a
course in QM, and are serious about learning this topic, this is an excellent book for learning the basics of QM.
If you have had a QM course, you will probably find that the class notes or other QM
reference books are fine. Thus, this is not a required textbook.
Please note that while many subjects, notations, and problems between the book
and the lectures will be similar or identical, it will be each student's option
to follow along in the book, find and read the relevant sections, and work
example problems as needed.
There
will also be a set of notes printed by Fastcopy at the University of Arizona,
and available at the Bookstore, that
will be sold for a small amount (maybe $25 or so). These are the
instructor's handwritten lecture notes for the course, and will be closely
followed for the entire semester. These notes are a good
refresher if you have had brief exposure to quantum mechanics,
but if you're learning QM from scratch, you may find Griffiths additionally helpful.
There are also many topics that are covered in the notes, and not in the book. It
is strongly suggested that all students purchases a set of lecture notes from
the UA Bookstore at the beginning of the semester.
To purchase the notes, ask for the following:
Course#: OPTI 511R
Instructor: Anderson
Title: Optical Physics and Lasers
Author: Anderson
Semester/Year: Spring 2006.
Distance-learning students especially need to purchase a set of notes, since the
material written on the blackboard may not always be visible or resolvable. If
you are not in Tucson, you can use
this link to order the lecture notes through the UA Bookstore.
Purchases from distance learning students need to have two specifics in their
request:
1. Check “Yes” when the electronic form asks for class notes,
or else the notes cannot be pulled up from the system, and
2. Write “Distance Learning student, long distance shipping
requested” in the Comment field.
General Course syllabus and topics list
(30 Tuesday/Thursday lectures: 28 in-class lectures
+ 2 in-class exams)
Quantum Mechanics (~ 14 lectures)
1.
Introduction to quantum mechanics, wave/particle duality, uncertainty
principle
2.
Quantum mechanics of free and bound particles, wave packets
3.
Schrödinger equation, wave functions, eigenvalue equations
4.
Postulates of quantum mechanics
5.
Measurements in quantum mechanics, expectation values
6.
Quantum harmonic oscillator
7. Dirac notation, matrix formulation of quantum mechanics
8.
Hydrogen atom, quantum mechanics of the real hydrogen atom
9.
Spin angular momentum, Pauli exclusion principle
Optical Physics (~8 lectures)
10.
Hamiltonian for light/matter interaction,
time-dependent probability amplitudes
11. Electric
dipole approximation, Rotating wave approximation
12.
Two-level atom approximation, Rabi oscillations
13.
Collisional decay and spontaneous emission, rate equations
14. Blackbody
radiation, Einstein A and B coefficients
15. Steady-state
absorption coefficient, saturation
16.
Inhomogeneous line broadening, absorption lineshapes
17. Quantization of the electromagnetic field, vacuum field fluctuations
18. Photon statistics
Lasers (~ 6 lectures)
19. Optical resonators, resonator stability
(discussed at the beginning of the
course)
20. Population inversion
21. Threshold gain and steady-state laser
operation
22. Laser output characteristics and output control
23. Pulsed lasers, Q-switching, mode locking
24. Survey of lasers and output characteristics (if time permits)
Course structure:
Grading: 25% homeworks, 25%
first mid-term exam, 25% second mid-term exam, 25% final exam.
Homeworks: weekly.
Prereqs:
OPTI 501
and basic linear algebra
Particularly, it is assumed that the
following concepts will be familiar:
1. Wave
equation and complex representation of EM waves
2.
Lorentz oscillator model, absorption, and refractive index
3.
Basic operations with vectors and complex variables
4.
Manipulation of matrices
5.
Eigenvalues and eigenvectors/eigenfunctions in algebraic and matrix forms.
6.
Basic properties of Fourier transforms
7.
Separation of variables method of solving partial differential equations
Topics 1-5 above are especially
important. If you are weak in any of these areas, you may need to do some
extra work during the course of OPTI 511. Some key ideas will be reviewed,
but these topics will not be taught from scratch.
Again, previous courses in physics will be
helpful, but are not required. This course is designed to be accessible to
students without a physics background.
OSC official OPTI511 course webpage: http://www.optics.arizona.edu/classes/Grad/Opti_511.htm