PHYS598MAP Spring 2005 Blog http://www.briandemarco.net/blogs/phys598map_sp05/ Copyright 2005 Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:30:09 -0600 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.15 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Final project references Hey Class,

Only a few of you have sent me a reference list for your final projects. Everyone should do this soon! I've posted what I've got on the final project section of the website.

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/final_project_r.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/final_project_r.htm Class notes Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:30:09 -0600 <![CDATA[Class review — 4/19]]> Hey Class,

Recall that Onur, Andrea, Man-Hong, and Xu Wang are giving talks on Thursday. I will provide snacks :) Also remember to put in a vote (via email) to me if you want an extra, bonus class on atomic collisions (and quantum mechanical scattering theory).

Today we talked about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_41_1.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_41_1.htm Class review Tue, 19 Apr 2005 18:54:19 -0600 Lecture notes up, etc. Hey Class,

The lecture notes on laser cooling are available, and I've posted some reading material on resonance fluorescence if you're interested (see the class notes for 4/19).

Cheers,

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/lecture_notes_u.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/lecture_notes_u.htm Class notes Sat, 16 Apr 2005 16:28:29 -0600 <![CDATA[Class Revew — 4/14]]> Class,

Make sure that you read this entire entry -- there is information on the talks you will be giving!

For your talks, plan on 13 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions. Do not plan on using the board -- instead, use Powerpoint or transparencies. I can provide you with transparencies of various kinds. I can also supply a laptop for use during your talk. Let me know in advance if you will be using Powerpoint.

I need to clean up the lecture notes on Sysiphus cooling before I post them. There will be no pre-flight for Monday, but I will post reading material on resonance fluorescence for those of you who are interested.

Yesterday in class we talked about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_revew_414.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_revew_414.htm Class review Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:20:05 -0600 Final project talks coming soon! Hey Class,

Only one of you has signed up to give her final project talk. These talks will start next week (Thursday) and will take up the last 4 class periods!

Each of you needs to sign up for a date (4/21,4/26,4/28, or 5/3) to give your talk. Send me an email -- first come first served. If you do not send me an email (by 5 pm today) then I will randomly assign you to a date.

I will give more details about the talk in class today. We will finish up laser cooling, then do resonance fluorescence, and then you guys are basically teaching the rest of the class.

Also remember that the final project is due by 5/13. I will not and cannot be flexible on that date.

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/final_project_t_1.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/final_project_t_1.htm Class notes Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:13:24 -0600 Note from Man-Hong on "Energy-time Uncertainty relation" Hey Everyone,

Man-Hong sends this comment our way:

I accidentially found a comment by Seth Lloyd, in his nature article "Ultimate physical limits to computation". It is said that

"In particular, the correct interpretation of the time-energy Heisenberg uncertainty principle [DE Dt >= hbar] is not that it takes time Dt to measure energy to an accuracy DE (a fallacy that was put to rest by Aharonov and Bohm) but rather that that a quantum state with spread in energy DE takes time at least [Dt = pi hbar / 2 DE] to evolve to an orthogonal (and hence distinguishable) state."


Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/note_from_manho.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/note_from_manho.htm Class notes Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:45:44 -0600 <![CDATA[Class review — 4/12]]> Hey Class,

Don't forget that there is a pre-flight for Thursday. Don't do it at the last minute!

Today we talked about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_41.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_41.htm Class review Tue, 12 Apr 2005 19:08:43 -0600 Error in lecture notes Hey Class,

Shizhong found an error in my lecture notes on a quantum atom interacting with the quantum EM field. My definition of the saturation intensity was off by a factor of the wavelength. I'll update the online lecture notes right away!

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/error_in_lectur.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/error_in_lectur.htm Class notes Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:58:23 -0600 Pre-flights ready for class on 4/12 Hey everyone,

The pre-flights (and some reading material) are ready for class on Tuesday.

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/preflights_read_1.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/preflights_read_1.htm Class notes Sat, 09 Apr 2005 12:54:27 -0600 <![CDATA[Class review — 4/7]]> Hey Class,

Remember that problem 2 is due on Tuesday.

There will be reading material for next class and pre-flights up by tomorrow afternoon.

A few questions came up in class; the answers follow. First: the scattered light for a single, two-level atom in free-space is always exactly at the frequency of the driving field (the spectrum is a delta-function). Second: one should not employ an intermediate state when arguing this (like I did, when I said that the atom was in the excited state). Hmmm... it seems as if there were more questions. Comment on this blog entry if you can think of them! I still haven't figured out what's going on with the entropy of the universe.


Yesterday we spoke about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_47.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_47.htm Class review Fri, 08 Apr 2005 10:27:07 -0600 <![CDATA[Class Review — 3/31]]> Hey Class,

Remember: Homework 2, problem 1 is due 4/7 and problem 2 is due 4/11.

And: Class is cancelled on 4/5.

Lecture notes will be up on the website today or tomorrow. There will be no pre-flight for next class.

Yesterday in class we learned about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_33_1.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/04/class_review_33_1.htm Class review Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:23:18 -0600 Notifications should be working now! Hi Class,

Now, I hope, you'll actually get a notification when I add an entry to the website.

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/notifications_s.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/notifications_s.htm Class notes Thu, 31 Mar 2005 15:52:56 -0600 Note from Man Hong on Casimir effect Hello Dr. DeMarco,

I intended to post a comment somewhere in the course blog, but I could find no way to do it... Anyway, there is a recent claim by Jaffe (MIT) saying that Casimir effect can be derived without reference to zero point energies.
Hopefully, this article would be interesting to people in this class.

Ref:
The Casimir Effect and the Quantum Vacuum, hep-th/0503158

Regards,
Man Hong

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/note_from_man_h.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/note_from_man_h.htm Class notes Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:58:36 -0600 Change in Homework 2 Hi Class,

I've made a slight change to problem 2 on Homework 2. Don't do the case for pi polarization. To do that problem correctly requires a lot of work -- much more than I want you to do.

Cheers,

Brian

]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/change_in_homew.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/change_in_homew.htm Homework Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:39:44 -0600 <![CDATA[March 29 — class review;]]> Hi Class,

Casimir's wife's name was Josina Jonker; they were married in 1933.

Remember! No class on April 5, and the homework is due on April 7.

There is a pre-flight for Thursday.

We got embroiled in a discussion of g(2) at the end of class. Correlation functions are confusing, and I'll bring a concrete example to next class.

Today we talked about:
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]]> http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/march_29_class.htm http://www.briandemarco.net/blogsarchive/phys598map_sp05/2005/03/march_29_class.htm Class review Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:16:26 -0600