Essays in Physics Thirty-two thoughtful essays on topics in undergraduate-level physics

Geoffrey Brooker, Emeritus Fellow, Wadham College, Oxford

Geoffrey Brooker joined Wadham College Oxford as a Fellow by Special Election in 1969, becoming Fellow and Tutor in Physics and University Lecturer in Physics from 1970 to 2003, when he was awarded the title of Emeritus Fellow.

1. Electromagnetic energy
2. Electromagnetism: microscopic and macroscopic fields
3. Vector theorems
4. Longitudinal and transverse waves
5. Transmission lines, the universe and everything
6. Counting quantum states and field modes
7. Four-vectors in relativity
8. The Lorentz transformation
9. Diffraction integrals and the Kirchhoff approximation
10. Diffraction at a slit
11. Symmetry in quantum mechanics
12. Successive approximation; perturbation theory in quantum mechanics
13. The hydrogen atom
14. Identical particles and the helium atom
15. Helium: energies for singlets and triplets
16. LS coupling; Hund's rules
17. Terms in LS coupling
18. The Zeeman effect
19. The Einstein A and B coefficients
20. The Boltzmann distribution and molecular gases
21. Free energy
22. Energy of a magnetic body: -m dB or +B dm?
23. The Debye theory of solid-state heat capacities
24. Umklapp collisions and thermal conductivity
25. Electrons and holes in semiconductors
26. The chemical potential for a semiconductor
27. Heat capacity of electrons
28. Electrons in a square lattice
29. Negative feedback
30. Stability of negative feedback
30. Quantization of waves: the stretched string
32. Spontaneous emission of radiation