Related papers: Teaching "Symmetry" in the Introductory Physics Cu…
The concept of complexity appears in virtually all areas of knowledge. Its intuitive meaning shares similarities across fields, but disagreements between its details hinders a general definition, leading to a plethora of proposed…
Both the basic educational contents for students and study programs for science teachers include several topics in physics and astronomy, from the simplest ones to others as advanced as nuclear fusion to explain stellar evolution and…
One of the interesting aspects in the study of atomic nuclei is the strikingly regular behaviour many display in spite of being complex quantum-mechanical systems, prompting the universal question of how regularity emerges out of…
Group theory is used in many textbooks of contemporary physics. However, electromagnetic community often considers group theory as an "exotic" tool. Graduate and postgraduate textbooks on electromagnetics and electrodynamics usually do not…
The strength of fluctuations, as measured by their variance, is paramount in the quantitative description of a large class of physical systems, ranging from simple and complex liquids to active fluids and solids. Fluctuations originate from…
As is well known, symmetry plays an important role in the theoretical physics. In particular, the well-known Noether symmetry is an useful tool to select models motivated at a fundamental level, and find the exact solution to the given…
Through a new interpretation of Special Theory of Relativity and with a model given for physical space, we can find a way to understand the basic principles of Quantum Mechanics consistently from Classical Theory. It is supposed that…
In this pedagogical article, we explore a powerful language for describing the notion of spacetime and particle dynamics intrinsic to a given fundamental physical theory, focusing on special relativity and its Newtonian limit. The starting…
We describe a course designed to help future educators build an integrated understanding of the different elements of physics education research (PER), including: research into student learning, content knowledge from the perspective of how…
A comprehensive introduction to the theory of the solar neutrino problem is given that is aimed at instructors who are not experts in quantum field theory but would like to incorporate these ideas into instruction of advanced undergraduate…
A central goal of Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences (IPLS) is to prepare students to use physics to model and analyze biological situations, a skill of increasing importance for their future studies and careers. Here we report our…
The basic physics disciplines of Maxwell's electrodynamics and Newton's mechanics have been thoroughly tested in the laboratory, but they can nevertheless also support nonphysical solutions. The unphysical nature of some dynamical…
The reality of neutrino oscillations has not really sunk in yet. The phenomenon presents us with purely quantum mechanical effects over macroscopic time and distance scales (milliseconds and 1000s of km). In order to help with the…
We investigate the difficulties that students in calculus-based introductory physics courses have with the concepts of symmetry, electric field, and electric flux which are important for applying Gauss's law. The determination of the…
The ongoing progress in quantum theory emphasizes the crucial role of the very basic principles of quantum theory. However, this is not properly followed in teaching quantum mechanics on the graduate and undergraduate levels of physics…
This is the first of a series of papers in which we present a brief introduction to the relevant mathematical and physical ideas that form the foundation of Particle Physics, including Group Theory, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, Quantum…
As the frontiers of biology become increasingly interdisciplinary, the physics education community has engaged in ongoing efforts to make physics classes more relevant to life sciences majors. These efforts are complicated by the many…
In the Italian education system, secondary students (ages 14-19) face the foundations of quantum physics during the final term of scientific high school (pre-university year). The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research…
This document is an introduction to and review of two-dimensional mathematical physics. The reader is introduced to the subject matter primarily through problems, which are presented along with detailed worked solutions. For each chapter,…
These lectures are a brief introduction to supersymmetry.