Phys 531 Optics is intended to provide broad, intermediate-level coverage of the field of optics, establishing a solid foundation for further work or study. This material is important for many disciplines, and we will have students from a variety of fields at both the graduate and undergraduate level. In addition, the course is being offered through the distance learning program, and several off-grounds students will be participating.
Class Hours:
Tu-Th
Location:
Instructor:
Cass Sackett
email:
sackett@virginia.edu
Office: Phys
155
Phone: 434-924-6795
Office Hours:
Monday
TA: Jeramy
Hughes
email: kjh4p@virginia.edu
Office: Phys
038
Phone:
434-924-6811
Office Hours: On-line,
Monday
Webpage:
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/531.cas8m.fall04
Lecture
notes, assignments and solution sets will be posted on the web page. It also has a link to the discussion board,
chat
facilities, and lecture videos.
Text: Hecht,
Optics,
4th Edition
Supplemental texts:
(on
reserve in Physics Library)
Introductory:
Jenkins
and
White, Fundamentals of Optics (on reserve list for Phys 221)
Intermediate:
Klein
and
Furtak, Optics
Saleh
and
Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics
Lipson
and
Lipson, Optical Physics
Goodman,
Introduction to Fourier Optics
Advanced:
Born
and Wolf, Principles of Optics
Scully
and Zubairy, Quantum Optics
Prerequisites:
Familiarity
with optics and electromagnetism is expected, at the level of an
introductory
electromagnetism course. Facility with
basic vector calculus and matrix operations is required.
Also, we will be using complex numbers and
Fourier transform techniques. These
methods will be introduced in class, but students who have no previous
exposure
to them may have a little trouble at first.
Please let me know if you need additional help.
Several
homework problems will require numerical
calculations on a computer. You may do
these problems using any suitable application:
Matlab, Mathematica, and Mathcad are all good choices. Students are responsible for knowing how to
use their chosen application. My posted
solutions will use Matlab.
Grading:
Homework
40%
Midterm
and final exam
50%
Class
Participation
10%
Homework:
Assignments
will be due weekly, usually on Tuesdays.
Students are encouraged to work together on assignments,
although the
final write-ups should be done independently.
There will be ten homework assignments.
Your lowest score will be dropped.
Assignments
from on-grounds students are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will be assessed a 10%
penalty, and assignments turned in after the on-time assignments have
been
graded will not be accepted without prior approval.
Assignments from off-grounds students will be
collected by their local administrator at class time.
Alternatively, they may scan their solutions
and email them to me before
Exams:
There will be a midterm and a final
exam. The
midterm will be a take-home exam, and will be held over the week of
October
14-21. You will have the entire week to
work on the exam, and it will be open book and notes.
However, you will not be allowed to discuss
the problems with other students. The
final exam will be held in class on Friday, Dec 17 from
Your
better exam will count for 30% of your grade, while the other will
count for
20%.
Class
Participation:
This
class will be taught in a discussion-based format.
The lecture notes will be prepared and posted
on-line before class. Students are
expected to read them ahead of time, as I will review them in class but
not go
through them in detail. The posted notes
will include several “discussion questions.”
I will select students at random to discuss these questions in
class,
and your participation grade will be based on the level of preparation
and
understanding you demonstrate in your answers.
Some
students will be unable to attend every class.
If you are not present when your name is selected for a
question, you
will not be penalized. However, each
student will be required to answer at least two questions over the
course of
the semester, and if you are not present enough times to do so your
participation grade will be docked.
On-line
facilities:
Assistance
with the course material may be obtained on-line through the discussion
board
and chat room services, available through the course web site. The TA will hold weekly “office hours” in the
chat room, and I will log into the chat room during instructor office
hours as
well. Both of us will monitor the
discussion
board and post advice there. Students
are welcome to post replies to discussion board questions as well. I will count significant participation on the
discussion board as credit towards your class participation grade.
The
class lectures will be posted on the computer in streaming video format. You are welcome to use this service, but be
aware that watching the video is a poor substitute for participating in
class.