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3rd year general degree courses

1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year general | 3rd year special | 4th year special
 

PH 3001: QUANTUM MECHANICS I (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: PH 1001 is recommended

Syllabus: Inadequacies of classical physics and evolution of quantum physics; Particles and wave packets; Heisenberg uncertainty principle and its consequences, some illustrations of uncertainty principle; Wave function and its interpretation, position probability density, superposition principle; Time-dependent Schrodinger equation; Conservation of probability, probability current density; Dirac bracket notation; Linear operators and their properties: eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of operators, Hermitian operators, adjoint operator; Expansions in eigenfunctions: Orthogonality, degeneracy, probability amplitudes, discrete and continuous spectra; Commutators, commuting observables, compatibility; Expectation values; Time-independent Schrodinger equation, stationary states; Energy quantisation; Properties of the energy eigenfunctions; General solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation; Solutions of the time-independent Schrodinger equation for a particle moving in a region of zero potential, step potential, barrier potential, finite square well potential, infinite square well potential, linear harmonic oscillator potential and square box potential; Symmetry and parity; One-electron atoms: separation of the time-independent Schrodinger equation in spherical polar co-ordinates, energy levels, quantum numbers, degeneracy, eigenfunctions of the bound states, probability densities; Orbital angular momentum and orbital magnetic dipole moment of electron; Stern-Gerlach experiment, existence of spatial quantisation, spin angular momentum and spin magnetic dipole moment of electron; Spin-orbit interaction; Total angular momentum; Spin-orbit interaction energy and the hydrogen energy levels; Transition rates and selection rules

Assessment: End of semester written examination

Suggested Readings: Quantum Physics (R Resnick & R Eisberg), Quantum Physics (MS Rogalski & SB Palmer), Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (BH Bransden & CJ Joachain).

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PH 3002: ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSICS (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: None

Syllabus: The earth's atmosphere, composition, temperature profile, exosphere and magnetosphere; Solar radiation and insolation, effect of atmosphere, pollution level and turbidity factor, the solar radiation budget; Dynamic meteorology, motions of the atmosphere; Thermodynamics of the atmosphere, temperature inversions and its effects; Greenhouse effect and global warming, three dimensional climate model; Climate change and sea level rise, feedback loops; Ozone depletion and its consequences, preventive measures; Clouds, Precipitation and Water, humidity, mist and fog, acid rains; Droughts and the E1 Nino effect, southern oscillatory index; Water pollution, hydrolic loading; Geophysical environment, earth and its interior, geological structure, continental drift, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslips; Physical oceanography: horizontal circulation, Ekman spiral, geostrophic currents, westward intensification; Vertical circulation, wind-induced circulation, equatorial upwelling, coastal upwelling, Langmuir circulation, thermohaline circulation, surface circulation, Gulf stream eddies, deep water masses; The earth's electrical environment, atmospheric electricity, cloud electrification and thunderstorms, lightning hazards and protection; Air pollution, detection techniques, recommended buffer zones, Pollution due to electric fields & electromagnetic radiation, potential hazards of weak alternating fields & microwaves; Sound & vibration, acoustics of buildings, reduction of noise, Sri Lanka standards, supersonic waves, inaudible sound and vibration, measurement of vibration; Energy sources & their impact on the environment; Policy making; Environment Impact assessment (EIA) – physical aspects; Field visits to industrial sites exposing students to real environmental problems.

Assessment: End of the semester written examination

Suggested Readings: Air pollution (M N Rao and H V N Rao), Atmospheric Science - An introductory Survey (J M Wallace and P V Hobbs), Fundamentals of Environmental Pollution (K Kannan), Environmental Air Analysis (P R Trivedi and G Raj), Climate and the Environment - The Atmospheric Impact on Man (J F Griffiths).

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PH 3003: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER HARDWARE (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: PH 1003, PH 2001 and PH 2002 are strongly recommended

Syllabus: Number systems and codes, BCD and ASCII codes. Logic gates. Designing of combinational logic circuits, Minimization of logic expressions using algebraic and Karnaugh map methods, Minterm and maxterm expressions, Construction of a Full adder, Decoders, Encoders, Multiplexes, Demultiplexes, and theirs applications, Characteristics of TTL, ECL, PMOS, NMOS and CMOS gates, Open collector devices, Sequential logic circuits, Flip-Flops as a memory element, S-R, J, K, and Master-Slave Flip-Flops, D and T Flip-Flops, Applications of Flip-Flops, Asynchronous circuits, Registers, Shift registers, Serial and parallel data transfer (SISO, SIPO, PISO, and PIPO) Pseudo random number generators and scrambling-discrambling of information, Frequency division and counting, Asynchronous (ripple) counters, Counters with Mod numbers, Up counters, Down counters, Up/Down counters, IC Asynchronous counters, Digital arithmetic in the 2S complement system, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division of numbers. Parallel binary adder, Complete parallel adder with registers, Carry propagation IC parallel adder/subtractor, Binary multiplier. Integrated Logic Circuits families, TTL series, Tristate TTL devices, Bus-oriented devices, MOSFET and CMOS series, CMOS Transmission gate IC interfacing TTL Driving CMOS and NMOS, CMOS Driving TTL, Analysis of synchronous circuits, State diagrams, Synthesis of synchronous circuits, Transition-excitation tables, Memory systems, Digital data communication.

Assessment: End of semester written examination.

Suggested Readings: The Art of Electronics (Paul Horowitz and Wind field Hill), Digital Systems, (Ronald J. Tocci)

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PH 3004: NUCLEAR PHYSICS (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: None.

Syllabus: General survey of radioactive decay; Half Life; Series Decay; Artificial Radioactivity, Applications of Radioactivity; Biological effects of radiation; Alpha decay; Barrier penetration; Fine structure of Alpha spectra; The theory of Alpha decay; Systematics of Alpha decay; Rutherford scattering, Beta decay; Experiments on the neutrino; Systematics of Beta decay; The Fermi theory of Beta decay; Electron and positron energy spectra; Electron capture; The neutrino mass; The theory of Gamma decay: Internal conversion; Nuclear isomerism; Nuclear sizes and nuclear masses; The distribution of nuclear matter in nuclei; The masses and binding energies of nuclei in their ground states; The semiempirical mass formula; The Beta stability valley; The masses of the Beta stable nuclei; The energetics of Alpha decay and fission; Ground state properties of nuclei; The liquid drop model; Nuclear potential well, Introduction to shell model; Magic numbers; Nuclear chart; Power from nuclear fission; Induced fission; Neutron cross sections for U235 and U238; The fission process; The chain reaction; Nuclear reactors; Radioactive waste; Nuclear fusion; The sun; Hydrogen burning; The passage of charge particles through matter; Energy loss due to ionization; Passage of Gamma rays through matter; Introduction to particle physics; Nomenclature and Catalogue of particles; Conservation laws; Introduction to quarks and basic interactions in nature; Brief introduction to nuclear detectors.

Assessment: End of semester written examination.

Suggested Readings: The Atomic Nucleus (J.M. Reid), Nuclear Physics (S.B. Patel), Atomic Nucleus (Hygens), Nuclear Physics (Burcham), Introductory Nuclear Physics (Puri & Babbar), Introduction to Nuclear Physics (Cottingham & Greenwood), Elementary Particles (Thorndike), The Fundamental Particles (Swartz).

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PH 3005: MEDICAL PHYSICS (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: None

Syllabus: Bio mechanics; Forces on and in the human body, Physics of the functions of important organs; eye, ear, lungs, heart and central nerves system, Physics of different measuring instruments used in diagnosis; blood pressure, heart beat, body temperature, Application of Physics in diagnostic techniques; ultrasound scanning; ECG, EEG, CT scanning, NMR imaging (MRI scanning), Use of Lasers and optical fibers in medicine, Hazards of EM radiation; biological damage. X-rays; production of X-rays and their applications in radiography, Radiation; interaction of radiation with matter, radiation units, radiation detectors, maximum permissible dose, radiation damage, radiation protection, Nuclear medicine; radio nuclide imaging, Radiotherapy; external beam therapy, Barchytherapy, unsealed-source therapy, dosimetry, Treatment planning; selection of treatment technique, determination of dose/ time/volume relationship.

Assessment: End of semester written examination

Suggested Readings: Biomedical instrumentation and measurements (L. Cromwell, F.J. Weibell and E.A. Pfeiffer), Medical Physics (J.R. Cameron and J.G. Skofronick), Radiation protection of patients (Wootton), The Physics of Radiology (H.E John), The Physics of medical imaging (S. Webb)

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PH 3006: OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER APPLICATIONS (15L, 1C)

Dependencies: PH 1003 and PH 2001 are strongly recommended

Syllabus: Introduction to ICs The 741 Op Amp and its constituent building blocks, Small signal analysis of the input and the output stages of 741, CMRR, Current mirrors and Voltage shifters, Basic properties of Op Amps, The Golden Rules, Slew rate, Frequency response, small signal Equivalent circuit for Op Amp, Linear Op Amp Circuits; Inverting and non-inverting configurations, Current and Voltage amplifiers, A.C. Amplifier, Bootstrap connection, Electronic ammeters and Voltmeters, Instrumentation amplifier, Phase shift circuits, Integrators and Differentiators, Nonlinear Op Amp Applications; Logarithmic amplifiers, Rectifier circuits, Holding circuits, Clamping an limiting circuits, Voltage regulators, Voltage multipliers, Comparators, Schmitt’s trigger, Oscillators and waveform Generators; The 555 timer, Active Filters, Introduction to Data Conversion Circuits; D/A and A/D converters.

Assessment: End of semester written examination.

Suggested Readings: Operational Amplifiers with linear Integrated Circuits (W.D. Stanley), Microelectronic Circuits (Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith), The Art of Electronics (Paul Horowitzs and Windfield Hill)

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PH 3008 : Astronomy  (45L, 3C)

Dependencies: None. (Recommended for students with good mathematical background.)

Syllabus: Development of astronomy; The solar system: origin, constituents-planets, moons, asteroids, comets; Planetary motion: Kepler's Laws,  parallax and measurement of distances to the planets, Titius - Bode Rule, variation of earth's orbit around the sun, existence of extra terrestrial planets; Structure of stars: The sun as a star, equations of stellar structure, energy sources, rates of thermonuclear reactions,  Schwarzschild’s model, Chandrasekhar limit; Masses and radii of stars: measuring techniques, study of binaries; Stellar evolution: Virial Theorem, Jean’s criterion, dynamical collapse of a protostar, nucleosynthesis, white dwarfs, neutron stars, red giants, supernovae, black holes, pulsars, X-ray and Gamma ray sources, variable stars, Cepheid variables; Luminosity and magnitude of stars: apparent magnitude, measurement of apparent luminosity, surface temperature, colour, UBV and RGU systems, absolute magnitude;  Hertzsprung-Russell diagram; Galaxies: classification of galaxies, Milky way and the Local Group, measurement of distances to galaxies; Cosmology: Big bang and isotropic models of the universe, inflation in early universe, other cosmological models, gravitational red shift, Hubble Law, gravitational lenses, quasars, dark matter; Celestial co-ordinates and guide to use star charts, precession of the earth's axis, concept of time, star catalogues; Astronomy instrumentation:  optical telescope types, photography, CCD imaging, image processing, spectrographs and spectroscopy, radio telescopes; orbiting optical, infrared, X-ray and gamma ray telescopes; planetary probes.

Assessment: End of semester written examination.

Suggested Readings: Astrophysics (K D Abhyankar), Astronomy (John D. Fix), Universe (Kaufmann & Freedman), Astronomy (J N Bhar).

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PH3010: MICROCONTROLLERS AND EMBEDDED SYSTEM DESIGN (15L, 30P, 2C)

Dependencies: PH 1021, PH 2001, and PH 2021 are strongly recommended

Objective: The aim of this course is to provide basic a knowledge together with some hands on experience on the use of microcontrollers in electronic design, and an understanding of the role of microcontrollers in electrical appliances in everyday environment. After completing the course students will be able to design, and develop devices to satisfy specific requirement in industry, or in research.

Syllabus: An overview on microprocessors, Introduction to microcontrollers, Hardware structure and concept of microcontroller, Sensors and transducers, Introduction to CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and VHDL (Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language), Introduction to software environment; programming IDE (Integrated Design Environment), programming languages, programming techniques, Microcontroller programming and hardware synthesis; inputs, outputs, logical operations and masking, analogue to digital conversion, interrupts, output-compare, input-capture and pulse width modulation, serial communication, peripheral drivers

Assessment: End of semester examination/Assignment


Suggested Readings: Embedded C Programming and the Microchip PIC (Richard H. Barnett, Larry O'Cull), HDL Chip Design: A Practical Guide for Designing, Synthesizing & Simulating ASICs & FPGAs Using VHDL or Verilog (Douglas J. Smith)


PH 3020: COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS LABORATORY (60P, 2C)

Dependencies: PH 1021 and PH 2021 are strongly recommended

Syllabus: This practical course focuses on providing the student with hands-on learning in computing through relevant laboratory work. The course involves exercises on computing such as computer programming, circuit design and analysis using standard software packages, computer simulations and microcontroller base experiments. Each student is expected to prepare an individual practical report. The maximum number of practicals possible will be conducted within a semester.

Assessment: Continuous assessment and end of semester laboratory examination

Suggested Readings: Refer practical instruction sheets.

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Address: Department of Physics, University of Colombo, Colombo 00300, Sri Lanka.
Telephone: +94-112-584-777
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