History and methodology of physics

Facts  
Duration: 1 semester
Period: Fall (3) Semester
Credits: 2 ECTS
Contact Hours: 24
Hours: 72

Main Objectives

This is a unique module focusing on the history of physics, which allows for understanding of the fundamental branches of physics necessary for achieving research objectives (in accordance with a student’s educational trajectory). The module also focuses on the use of knowledge in modern physics issues, and the latest achievements in physics, which is crucial for students’ ability to conduct individual research activities, including analysis.

Learning Outcomes

As the result of the course, a student must:

  • know: the major sections and features of modern physics, ideas of the evolution of the most important physics concepts and physics methods;
  • understand: the relationship between the various fields of science;
  • master: the methodology of scientific research in the professional field.

Professor

Prof. Vladimir Demkin

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Course annotation

History and methodology of physics (2 European Credits)

Taught by: Prof. Vladimir Demkin

The module discusses: the history of development, physics' connection with other sciences: philosophy, mechanics, medicine, the emergence of development of scientific knowledge methods, the evolution of the most important physics concepts. Studying the module requires knowledge of core courses: General Physics, electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical physics, having an idea of the mechanical movement relativity, the theory of heat, the physics field, knowing the structure of matter, atomic structure, theory of light, the basic principles of quantum mechanics. The course concerns the main stages of development of physics from ancient times to the present day. The final part of the course discusses the issues and prospects of physics development.

The module covers the following topics:

·   Development of the concepts of space and time.

·   Galileo, Newton, and their method of knowledge in science.

·   The history of development of electricity and magnetism theory, the use of achievements of physics in medicine.

·   Development of ideas about the nature of light.

·   The discrete structure of matter. Statistical Physics.

·   Successes in nuclear physics, and their use in medicine.

Learning objectives

As the result of the course, a student must:

·   know: the major sections and features of modern physics, ideas of the evolution of the most important physics concepts and physics methods;

·   understand: the relationship between the various fields of science;

·   master: the methodology of scientific research in the professional field.

Content of the module

Physics doctrines in ancient Greco-Roman culture. Methods of learning in ancient natural philosophy: Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle. The struggle for heliocentric system. Giordano Bruno, Kepler, Galileo, new methodology and new organization of science. F. Bacon and Descartes. The first successes in experimental physics. The scientific method of Newton. The beginning of building a mechanical picture of the world. Appearance of optics of moving bodies issues. Michelson experiments. Vogt work, Lorentz, Larmor. The emergence of special theory of relativity. Poincare, Einstein, Langevin. The general theory of relativity to a unified field theory. Experimental methods in the study of electrical and magnetic phenomena. W.Gilbert. Experiments on the establishment of electrical interaction principles: Pendant. The discovery of electromagnetic induction. Oersted, Michael Faraday. Creation of the theory of the electromagnetic field: Maxwell. Experimental method in the study of electrical and magnetic phenomena. W. Gilbert. Experiments on the establishment of electrical interaction principles: Pendant. The discovery of electromagnetic induction. Oersted, Michael Faraday. Creation of the theory of the electromagnetic field: Maxwell. Plato's idea of caloric. The idea that heat is a condition of the inner body parts. The struggle of these ideas. Discovery of the conservation and transformation of energy principles: Mayer, Joule, Helmholtz. Development of the kinetic theory of gases: Maxwell, Boltzmann. The struggle around the statistical understanding of the second principle of thermodynamics. The emergence of statistical mechanics. The question about heat death of the universe.

Establishment of the wave theory of light. The role of Young, Fresnel. Wave-particle duality. The emergence of ideas about the atom. Atomic hypothesis of Dalton, Leucippus, Lucretius Carus. Atomic hypothesis in the Renaissance: Newton, Voltaire. Successes in chemistry. Creating of the elements periodic system. Opening electron. Discovery of X-rays. The discovery of radioactivity. Model of the atom. Rutherford's experiments. Nuclear mode. Paradoxes in study of blackbody theory. Hypothesis of light quanta. Bohr's idea of ​​the atom. Triumph of Bohr's theory and its difficulties. The creation of quantum theory wave. De Broglie wavelength. The principle of probability. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Bohr's complementarity principle. Further development of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger, Dirac. Modern concepts of the atom.

Overview of tasks and lectures

The course is scheduled for the third semester and involves 6 two-hour lectures and 6 two-hour seminars.

Topics of lectures:

1. Subject and tasks of the history of physics. The initial stage of the ancient science.

2. The development of the concepts of space, time, movement in classical physics.

The emergence and development of the theory of relativity.

3. Study of electricity and magnetism. The practical significance of discoveries in physics in the 18th and 19th centuries.

4.Doctrine of the discrete structure of matter. Molecular-kinetic theory. Maxwell's and Boltzmann's work.

5. Wave-particle duality. The emergence of the quantum theory.

6. Modern physics picture of the world.

Topics of seminars:

1. Greek natural philosophy.

2. Galilean principle of relativity and the difficulty of its generalizing to electrodynamics and optics.

3. Development of views on the nature of light: from Huygens to Einstein.

4. Faraday's work on electrodynamics. The principle of the short-range interaction.

5. Maxwell's electromagnetic field theory and its experimental verification.

6. Ether hypothesis: from Descartes to Einstein.

Position within the programme

This is a unique module focusing on the history of physics, which allows for understanding of the fundamental branches of physics necessary for achieving research objectives (in accordance with a student’s educational trajectory). The module also focuses on the use of knowledge in modern physics issues, and the latest achievements in physics, which is crucial for students’ ability to conduct individual research activities, including analysis and.

Teaching format

Structure

The module is scheduled for semester 3. The course consists of 2 credits (72 hours, including 24 hours in the classroom). The sections of the course are given 12 weeks (6 two-hour lectures and 6 two-hour seminars). Lectures and seminars are conducted in a form of a videoconference.

Grading

The form of final assessment is a credit test (pass/fail examination).

Literature

1. Розенбергер, Иоганн Карл Фердинанд. История физики. – 2-е изд. Ч. 1: История физики в древности и в средние века. – М.: Объединенное научно-техническое издательство НКТП СССР, 1937. – 125. 

2. История физики. Ч. 2: История физики в новое время. – М.: Государственное технико-теоретическое издательство. – Л.: Государственное технико-теоретическое издательство, 1933. –341.

3. Лауэ М. Мой творческий путь в физике // Успехи физических наук. – 1960. – Т. 72. – С. 831–840.

4. П.С. Кудрявцев. Курс истории физики. – М.: Просвещение, 1974.

5. Б.И. Спасский. История физики: учеб. пособие для вузов/ Б. И. Спасский. - 2-е изд., перераб. и доп. Ч. 2. – М.: Высшая школа, 1977.