Modern physics

[This book] is written for the student who has completed a calculus-based introductory course in classical physics. Thus, it is appropriate for a course taught either in the sophomore year or the early part of the junior year. It will introduce the reader to a wide range of ... physics principles that have emerged since the turn of the twentieth century ... The student should be acquainted with the standard classical topics of mechanics, waves, thermodynamics, and electricity and magnetism ... Regarding the math prerequisites, familiarity with partial derivatives is assumed, and use is made of complex numbers.-Pref.

Originally published: San Francisco, CA : Pearson/Addison Wesley, ©2008. 2nd ed.

Revised edition of: Nonclassical physics. 1998.

Dawn of a new age -- Special relativity -- Waves and particles I, electromagnetic radiation behaving as particles -- Waves and particles II, electromagnetic radiation behaving as waves -- Bound states, simple cases -- Unbound states, steps, tunneling, and particle-wave propagation -- Quantum mechanics in three dimensions and the hydrogen atom -- Spin and atomic physics -- Statistical mechanics -- Bonding, molecules and solids -- Nuclear physics -- Fundamental particles and interactions -- Appendices: Michelson-Morley experiment; Lorentz transformation, plotting events; Planck's Blackbody Radiation law; Solving for the Fourier transform; Momentum operator; Time evolution of a Gaussian Wave Packet; Operator for L2; Energy distributions; Properties of isotopes; Probability, mean, standard deviation, and numbers of ways; Some important math -- Answers to selected exercises.