PMU199Y

[Your professor]

Course Description

Have you wondered about the origin and workings of the natural world around us? Have you found science interesting but felt shut out because it was too full of math and jargon? Have you felt a pull to become more science-literate? If so this seminar course is for you or for anyone interested in understanding more about the universe, including our planet, seen through the lens of modern physics.

Ideas on the menu will include: space and time, relativity, black holes, quantum physics, particle physics, unification, big bang cosmology, extra dimensions, "branes", and string theory. The intriguing story of these integrated phenomena unfolds over a wide distance and a long time.

No prior experience with physical science will be required, but familiarity with Grade 10 mathematics will be assumed. Students from diverse academic backgrounds are warmly welcome.

Important Things

Announcements

Announcements will be listed here in reverse chronological order to make the latest ones easiest to find.

Apr.12: Final grades have been computed and submitted online (after they are approved, they should show up in ROSI). Congratulations: everyone passed! 40% of the class got As, 40% got Bs, and 20% got Cs or Ds. Here are the grade distributions from Spring semester: Essay 4, Essay 5, Essay 6, Spring Oral, Spring Test, Spring Participation. Lastly, here is the final grade distribution.
Apr.02: As I said to all the students who attended our final class, I hope you really enjoyed our year studying physics together and wish you all the very best for your future. If you ever want to hang out after grades are posted or need a recommendation letter, you know where to find me. :-) Go well, my smarties!
Mar.18: Essay 6 is posted. You must get your topic approved by me before proceeding further.
Feb.18: This is just a reminder that the Spring Test will be held on March 18th, i.e. in four weeks from now, two weeks after our Spring Oral presentations on March 4th. Please click the link for instructions and three old Spring Test papers for you to practise on.
Feb.12: UofT has asked me to circulate this invitation to the Undergraduate Research Forum on Mar.05 to the whole class.
Feb.10: I have assigned Spring Oral Presentation topics to the stragglers who forgot to choose a topic by tomorrow's deadline. The presentations will be on March 4th.
Jan.28: Essay 5 is posted.
Jan.27: Fair warning: tomorrow is the date when Spring Oral Presentation topics will be posted at the beginning of class. I will give preference in selecting topics to students who bother to show up to class. First come first served. After class, I will then update the website with remaining available topics as soon as I get back to my office. Students not attending tomorrow's class should then send me email with their top five choices of preferred topic, first come first served. (Alternatively, you may pick a topic that is not on the list, as long as you get my agreement first. The range of topics from which you may select is: everything we covered since the Fall Oral Presentations.)
Jan.14: At the beginning of the academic year I made it clear that students are expected to attend class every week as part of this course. I am disappointed by recent attendance rates, and I ask you to lift your game. In particular, please do not claim that a personal emergency prevented you from coming to class unless it actually was a documentable emergency. Quotidian life issues and spa days do not count. To reward students who do come to class, I consistently provide information that is not in the online lecture notes.
Jan.14: I provided mind maps for you last semester as a form of training wheels. You are now expected to make your own mind maps each week if you want them. If you need any help, that is what my office hours are for.
Jan.14: Essay 4 is posted.

Dec.08: Happy Holidays! I know exam period is tough, but so are you. :-) Wishing you rest and recreation during the break afterwards to recharge your batteries.
Dec.08: Essay 3 is now graded. This is the Essay 3 grade distribution. Essay 3 and Fall Participation grades were just sent out by e-mail individually. Here is the Fall Participation grade distribution. Overall, for the running weighted grades, everyone is on track to pass the course, with scores between 54-95% and a median of 81%.
Dec.02: There is no class tomorrow - classes end today December 2nd for Fall courses and for the Fall session of year-long courses. Tomorrow December 3rd is a class day, but only for classes that usually meet on a Monday, in order to make up for Monday holidays, at the instructor's discretion. Since our class meets on a Wednesday, this does not apply to us, and our class will not meet again until January 7th. December 4th-5th is Study Period. See the Arts and Science Sessional Dates calendar for further details.
Nov.28: Information about the English Language Learning (ELL) Program for multilingual undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Nov.20: Superstring duality, our focus for Weeks 12 and 13, is a fairly gnarly topic, but you are all definitely smart enough to wrap your heads around it. I will do a good job of helping you understand it in class - my verbal descriptions are a lot better than the written material in the online lecture notes. You can also help yourself learn about this topic better by doing the assigned readings from Greene.
P.S.: those who come to Week 12 class will get a description not only of superstring duality but also a description of why Stephen Hawking is a rock star amongst physicists. I was motivated to prepared this material because of the Hawking biopic film currently in theatres. He's a pretty amazing guy!
Nov.20: A few comments about grades are in order. Some of you may have felt a bit discouraged after the Fall Test. I would like to re-encourage you. :-) I recommend against dropping the course based on just one Test mark, because it is not especially representative of a student's ability. Why not?
1. The Fall Test is worth only 10% of your Final Grade.
2. Grades for Essays, Orals, and Participation are, on average, higher than Test grades in this course.
3. Everyone is on track to get a good grade for Fall Participation: assuming you all turn up to class on Nov.26, yours will range between 73%-95% (i.e., B+ to A+), with a median of 84.5% (A-/A). Fall Participation is also worth 10% of your Final Grade.
4. Based on all grades earned so far, everyone in class is on track to pass with a raw final grade between 64-94% (i.e., C to A+), with a median of 82% (A-).
Here is the grade scale I use to convert between letter grades, GPAs, and percentages. This is just the Faculty of Arts and Science grade scale, with A+ modified to count as 4.3 GPA. (Percentages shown for letter-grade equivalents are chosen smack in the middle of the FA&S ranges). All weighted grade averages for the course are calculated using percentages.
Nov.19: Here's a mind map for Week 12 concepts.
Nov.19: Only twelve students came to class today. Those who were absent were missed -- I look forward to seeing you all in MP606 next week. :-) Those who did attend were rewarded with the Fall Test answers at the beginning of class. We also discussed aspects of Essay 3 material in small groups and all together.
Nov.16: The Fall Test has been graded. Grades were sent out by email last night. Here are the Fall Test Results.
Nov.12: Next week, we will discuss material from Week 10 as well as material from Week 11. Please ensure that you do the readings before class, including the readings assigned from Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of Greene. Here is a Week 10+11 mind map to help your studying before class.
Nov.12: Essay 3 is now posted. It is due on Nov.26th and worth 7% of your final grade.
Oct.30: Here's a mind map for Week 9 concepts.
Oct.30: Essay 2 grades have been emailed out. Here is the grade distribution for Essay 2.
Oct.29: Essay 1 and Fall Orals grades have been emailed out. Here are the grade distributions for Essay 1 and Fall Orals.
Oct.27: The Oral Presentations will be held under UofT examination conditions. If you arrive at the classroom any later than 2:14:00PM, I will not allow you to enter the classroom, because you will disrupt the flow of the presentations. You will be allowed in at the half-way point if you are late. No exceptions.
Oct.27: Note: you are not expected to hand in your Fall Oral Presentation speech notes and they will not be graded. You will be graded on (a) how accurately you describe the physics and (b) how well you explain it (pedagogy).
Oct.22: Here is all the information you need to know about the Fall Test -- including three old Test papers for you to practise on.
Oct.19: Here's a reminder to start studying for the Fall Test (worth 10%) on Nov.12.
Oct.19: Here's a mind map for Week 7 concepts.
Oct.08: Here's a mind map for Week 6 concepts.
Oct.01: Here's a mind map for Week 5 concepts.
Oct.01: The topic list/schedule of Fall Oral Presentations (worth 10%) on Oct.29 is now posted.
Oct.01: Essay 2 is now posted. It is worth 5% and due by 2:10pm on Oct.15.
Sep.28: Here's a mind map for Week 4 concepts.
Sep.26: Here's a mind map for Week 2 concepts too.
Sep.24: Here's a mind map for Week 3 concepts.
Sep.17: Essay 1 is now posted. It is worth 5% and due by 2:10pm on Oct.01.
Sep.09: Mindfulness meditation is a great tool to help you manage the busy pace of student life. Local classes are available Monday and Friday evenings: click here for more information.
Aug.31: Welcome! Our first class will be on Wednesday 10th September in MP606 from 14:10-16:00h. You want to head for the 16-storey tall Burton Tower structure within the MP complex of buildings, which is accessed most easily from St George Street north of Russell Street. After you enter the Physics lobby, turn left then right and head for the elevators to 6th floor. Turn right when you get out of the elevator.