Physics 5C

Physics 5C is the third and final course in the introductory Physics 5 sequence, which is the physics major-oriented "honors" introductory physics sequence. It is a three unit course.

Overview

Many students’ first brush with the two vast fields of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. Students in Physics 5C will spend a large amount of time acquainting themselves with solutions to the Schrödinger equation, a revolutionary law of nature which governs the movement and evolution of things in the quantum world. The latter half of the course shifts to statistical mechanics, which is a way to tease out the behavior of a large number of objects where the dynamics are intractable. Rather than rehashing over phenomenological thermodynamics principles, Physics 5C introduces the derivation of our familiar thermodynamics laws with what logic which essentially amounts to counting.

Prerequisites

Physics 5B or Physics 7B, Physics 89 or Math 54 may be taken concurrently.

Student Comments

“With Aganagic, it was the first time she was teaching the class and there was no official syllabus. So the class was a weird mix of 137A and stat mech, at an advanced level. Only for the most theoretical people, who want a challenge. [Expect] out of 5C, a solid understanding of Stat mech and Quantum at Griffiths level.” – Physics 5C GSI

“With Dan Kasen, the first half of the course is quantum mechanics and the second half is thermodynamics. The last week is about combining those two together. A different professor might reverse the order. I personally find the quantum mechanics exam questions and problem sets in this course to be harder than the 137A upper division quantum mechanics material. Therefore it would be a good idea to take 137A and this course concurrently so that you have a better introduction to quantum mechanics material. Recommended only for people who have previously taken both Physics 5A and 5B/5BL.” – Andrew Hsu, undergraduate physics/astrophysics