物理教育
An elementary account of special relativity for school-children.
This encyclopedia article addresses questions like the following. How does the Sun shine? Does the neutrino have a mass? Are there weak interactions beyond those described by the standard model of particle physics?
Education is a goal-oriented field. But if we want to treat education scientifically so we can accumulate, evaluate, and refine what we learn, then we must develop a theoretical framework that is strongly rooted in objective observations…
Due to its amazing three-dimensional effects, holography is a very motivating, yet very demanding subject for physics classes at the upper level in school. For this reason an instruction unit on holography that supplement holographic…
Jaynes' criticism of Bell's theorem is examined. It is found that Bell's reasoning leading to his theorem is sound when properly interpreted. The nature of physical influence and logical inference in quantum mechanics, and its relationship…
The nature of boundedness of orbits of a particle moving in a central force field is investigated. General conditions for circular orbits and their stability are discussed. In a bounded central field orbit, a particle moves clockwise or…
The confusion and ambiguity encountered by students, in understanding virtual displacement and virtual work, is addressed in this article. A definition of virtual displacement is presented that allows one to express them explicitly for both…
A classical problem of mechanics involves a projectile fired from a given point with a given velocity whose direction is varied. This results in a family of trajectories whose envelope defines the border of a 'safe' domain. In the simple…
We demonstrate that an effect other than anharmonicity can severely distort the spectroscopic signatures of quantum mechanical systems. This is done through an analytic calculation of the spectroscopic response of a simple system, a charged…
A simple procedure for restoring the constants in physical equations is introduced by a consistent consideration of the correspondence between the symbols representing physical quantities and pairs formed by numerical values and unit…
We present the formulation and development of the unique physics program at Manhattanville College. By addressing challenges faced by small physics departments in liberal arts colleges, such as the lack of critical mass, lack of significant…
Three related topics are discussed to show the "simplicity, harmony and beauty" of the theory of special relativity (SR): (1) How can de'Broglie discover his famous relation between the particle's momentum and a wave length -- a paradox…
Local linearization is highlighted to explain the success of the orbital approximation in positive response to Scerri's comments on the electronic configuration model. The relevance of Rydberg states is made clear.
One of the numerous results of the Theory of General Relativity is the appearance of Gravimagnetism, described already by Thirring and Lense in 1918 [THI 18]. Its understanding normally remains reserved to specialists. This article presents…
Following a brief review on the history and the current development of fiber optics, the significance of teaching fiber optics for science and non-science major college students is addressed. Several experimental demonstrations designed to…
This paper demonstrates that there is much similarity in the mathematical formalisms between the optical constants of artificial electromagnetic media (such as chiral media, left-handed media, photonic crystals and EIT media) and some…
This article is a short review on the concept of information. We show the strong relation between Information Theory and Physics, and the differences between classical and quantum information, with emphasis in their manipulation through…
This article is a short review on the concept of information. We show the strong relation between Information Theory and Physics, beginning by the concept of bit and its representation with classical physical systems, and then going to the…
Quantum mechanics courses focus mostly on its computational aspects. This alone does not provide the same depth of understanding as most physicists have of classical mechanics. The understanding of classical mechanics is significantly…
Over the past year and a half we have developed an innovative approach to the teaching of `Physical Science', a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. The new approach uses popular…