University of New Mexico

Department of Physics and Astronomy

 Assignments

Cool Sites (Updated)

 

Physics 302 Homepage [Fall 2012]

Extras...(photos, articles, etc.                  Download RAYTRACE Software

   PHOTONICS

 

Final Exam:  tbd

Comprehensive (Chapters 2-13)

Closed Book, Closed Notes, One CribSheet (two-sided) Allowed

              

 

 Problem session will be set up

 

Instructor:  Dr. Kent Morrison 

Office:  Physics & Astronomy Rm. 1115 (North Wing)   

Phone: 277-0433    

email: lkm@unm.edu

 

To see me in my office, please make an appointment (email is best).

Class meeting times: Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30- 4:45;   Physics and Astronomy Building, Room 5

Textbook: Optics by Hecht (4th Edition). The course will cover Chapters 2-13, although we will not cover all the material in some chapters. I will also suggest supplemental material during the course.

            Teaching Assistant:  Zahra Taghipour,   email   ztaghipour@unm.edu

Pre-requisites: Calculus, Knowledge of Differential Equations, Complex Algebra, (Phys 160 and 161).

Assignments: Homework problem sets will be assigned on a regular basis throughout the semester, most likely one set per week. The overall HW grade will count as 20% of the final.  Click here to go to the assignments page.

Tests:   There will be two in-class, closed-book tests (each counting 25% of final grade) at regular intervals during the semester and a comprehensive final exam (30% of final grade) at the end.

Tentative Test Dates (subject to change):  September 27th and November 13th. Last day to drop the course without Dean’s signature is November 9.  The final exam is currently scheduled for Dec 13, Thursday, 3:00 – 5:00 in room 5.

Grading:   The final grade is weighted as follows:
Midterms: 25% each (50% total)
Final: 30%
Homework: 20%

Syllabus
1-  Introduction (historical overview)
2-  Waves (properties of harmonic waves, complex representation, superposition,..)
3-  Electromagnetic Theory of Light (basic laws, energy and momentum, photons, radiation spectrum, light-matter interaction, dispersion, ..)
4-  Propagation of Light (Fermats principle, Fresnel laws of reflection and refraction, Maxwells equations, ..)
5-  Geometric Optics (spherical surfaces, thin lenses, mirrors, imaging, prisms, fiberoptics, ray tracing, aberrations..)
6-  Optical Systems (human eye, camera, telescopes, microscopes,..)
7-  Wave Optics (superposition, wave packets, pulses, group velocity ..)
8-  Polarization of Light (polarizers, birefringence, waveplates, ..)
9-   Interference (principles, interferometers, single and multilayer films,..)
10- Diffraction (Fraunhofer diffraction, Fresnel diffraction, implications for imaging systems..)
11- Fourier Optics                                                                                                                                                                                                      

12- Coherence Theory                                                                                                                                                                                                

13- Lasers