PHZ3400 Syllabus

Class Information

• Lectures: T R 2-3:25pm; HCB 207

• Professor: Vladimir Dobrosavljevic, 611 Keen Building or A315 MagLab, 644-9755 or 644-5693, vlad@magnet.fsu.edu

• Office hours: Before class, or by appointment. You are also welcome to contact me whenever you have questions.

• Prerequisite: Calculus-based General Physics (PHY 2048 and 2049), and Modern Physics (PHY3101).

Description

This is an upper-level undergraduate course, with the goal to explain the concepts of modern Condensed Matter Physics. The emphasis of the courses is equally on conceptual grasp of the subject as well as on problem solving. It will cover structural, thermal, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of both solids and some "soft" materials (e.g. liquid crystals, bio-materials, etc). It will describe the physics foundation of many modern technologies that have transformed our daily life, discoveries which would not exist without our deep understanding of "Quantum Magic".

The key component of this course is the collaborative student contribution to the course Wiki-textbook. Each team of students is responsible for BOTH writing the assigned chapter AND editing chapters of others. Instead of writing traditional-style term papers, students will produce Wiki-contributions to various special topics, and then use thee pages to present what they discovered to the class. Cross-linking these pages with the exponentially growing number of resources on the Web will produce a new generation of learning tools: a veritable revolution in teaching physics and science in general.

Textbooks

• Main Texts:

1. Soft Condensed Matter, by Richard A. L. Jones (Oxford University Press, 2007).
2. Solid State Physics, by J. R. Hook and H. E. Hall (Wiley, 2007).

• Other useful texts:

1. Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, by P. M. Chaikin, and T. C. Lubensky (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
2. Solid State Physics, by N. W. Mermin and N. D. Ashcroft (Holt, Rinegart and Winston).
3. Introduction to Solid State Physics, by C. Kittel (Wiley).

Student Responsibilities

• Homework Your success in this course depends to a large extent on the effort you put into completing the weekly homework assignments. Problem sets will be handed out (posted on the class webpage) and are due on the indicated days. Late homework will not be accepted. Homeworks will be graded immediately following the due date, after which the solutions will be posted on-line. A timely and correct solution of the homeworks will contribute 30% to the final grade.

• Exams: There will be one mid-term exam and a final exam. Any discussion regarding the grading of the two exams must take place within two weeks of the hand-back date. The mid-term will carry 20% and the final an additional 20% of the final grade. The final exam will be on Thursday 4/30 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM in our regular classroom.

• Term Paper: A term paper, at least 2000 words on a certain topic is due on Thursday, April 13. Following the completion of these papers, students will give 20-minute presentations, where they will share what they have learned on this topic with the rest of the class. Instead of presenting this "paper" in printed form, students will contribute the corresponding materials (including graphs, pictures, tables, etc.) to the set of our course Wiki-pages. If you prefer to work on a topic that is not on the list, you must get prior approval. There is quite some flexibility in the scientific content and the depth into which you address the scientific issues. You are encouraged to discuss these with me in the process. The paper must be in your original words, with proper references if previous work is cited. The quality and the presentation of the term paper will contribute 10% to the final grade.

• Lecture notes and homework solutions - a Wiki approach: Instead of the instructor posting lecture notes and homework solutions for this class, these will be interactively produced and improved by the students, based on the instructor's in-class presentations. 20% of the final grade will be based on improving, editing and correcting the lecture notes. Some of the lectures already have, partially incomplete, Wiki lecture notes. Instead of assigning a given topic to a given person, I will let any student take the initiative in improving each lecture. If you find that a given lecture is already developed to your satisfaction, then please add new solved problems (not those already assigned in homework) at the end of a given lecture, which illustrate the principles of the given topic. The current Wiki system makes it possible for the instructor to have a detailed and precise record of each and every contribution by students, allowing accurate monitoring of each of student's activity. So those that take the initiative to contribute to Wiki pages will get cnsiderable additional credit, and those that do not will be thus penalized.

Physics Department Consultation Sessions

A graduate student is available to assist you with homework problems and preparing for the exams. The times for these sessions will be announced shortly.

ADA Statement

Students will disabilities needing academic accommodations should: (a) register with, and provide documentation to, the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC); and (b) bring a letter to Dr. Dobrosavljevic from SDRC indicating your needed academic accommodations. Please do this in the first week of class.

Academic Honor Code

Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The first paragraph reads: The Academic Honor System of the Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student’s own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community.