Related papers: Student difficulties with the probability distribu…
An investigation on student understanding of waves is performed during an optional laboratory realized in informal extracurricular way with few, interested and talented pupils. The background and smart intuitions of students rendered the…
A new formulation of quantum mechanics is developed which does not require the concept of the wave-particle duality. Rather than assigning probabilities to outcomes, probabilities are instead assigned to entire fine-grained histories. The…
Textbook quantum mechanics treats time as a classical parameter, and not as a quantum observable with an associated Hermitian operator. For this reason, to make sense of usual time-energy uncertainty relations such as $\Delta {t}\Delta…
Quantum particles in a potential are described by classical statistical probabilities. We formulate a basic time evolution law for the probability distribution of classical position and momentum such that all known quantum phenomena follow,…
A recent article claims to measure the speed of quantum particles in the classically forbidden regime where the energy of the particles is lower than the local potential, and further claims that the results of this experiment challenge…
Energy concepts are fundamental across the sciences, yet these concepts can be fragmented along disciplinary boundaries, rather than integrated into a coherent whole. To teach physics effectively to biology students, we need to understand…
Six specific modes of reasoning about ratio and proportion have been delineated as a means of operationalizing expert practice. These modes stem from consideration of how physicists reason in context, are informed by prior work in physics…
Expanding our knowledge of student difficulties in advanced undergraduate electromagnetism is essential if we are to develop effective instructional interventions. Drawing on an analysis of course materials, in-class observations and…
We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long (STPFaSL-Long), a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students'…
The perspectives of introductory classical physics students can often negatively influence how those students later interpret quantum phenomena when taking an introductory course in modern physics. A detailed exploration of student…
Free fermions are some of the best studied quantum systems. However, little is known about the complexity of learning free-fermion distributions. In this work we establish the hardness of this task in the particle number non-preserving…
Boundary conditions (BCs) are considered as an important topic that advanced physics under- graduates are expected to understand and apply. We report findings from an investigation of student difficulties using boundary conditions (BCs) in…
Students' difficulties in quantum mechanics may be the result of unproductive framing and not a fundamental inability to solve the problems or misconceptions about physics content. We observed groups of students solving quantum mechanics…
We explore the measurement problem in the entropic dynamics approach to quantum theory. The dual modes of quantum evolution---either continuous unitary evolution or abrupt wave function collapse during measurement---are unified by virtue of…
The education system for students in physics suffers (worldwide) from the absence of a deep course in probability and randomness. This is the real problem for students interested in quantum information theory, quantum optics, and quantum…
Understanding Maxwell's equations in differential form is of great importance when studying the electrodynamic phenomena discussed in advanced electromagnetism courses. It is therefore necessary that students master the use of vector…
With an investigation into how students in a physics Master of science program make sense of their whole first year study experience in one of the years following a programme reform, we try to offer insights and advice to consider when…
``Weak'', ``protective'', and ``delayed observation'' measurements are analyzed in the framework of the Bohm interpretation of quantum theory. It is argued that the above varieties of measurements manifest some difficulties of the Bohm…
This article describes an undergraduate physics module at a university in England that places year 3 student physicists in secondary school classrooms for a semester. This is done as a way of introducing them to the occupation of secondary…
Since its discovery, quantum theory has proven to be one of the most precise theories ever made. Measurement processes, however, do not seem to be governed by the unitary law of quantum mechanics, and one can ask if the theory is complete.…