Assignment #1 Due Wed, Sep 3, 2008
Chapter 2: Problems 20, 23, 95.

Assignment #2 Due Fri, Sep 5, 2008

Chapter 2: Question 8, Problems 13, 16, 24, 27.

Assignment #3 Due Wed, Sep 10, 2008

Chapter 2: Question 23, Problems 31, 52, 74, 92, 100.

Assignment #4 Due Mon, Sep 22, 2008
Chapter 3: Questions 17, 22, 26, Problems 18, 21, 32, 34, 37, 46

Assignment #5 Due Mon, Sep 29, 2008

Chapter 5: Problems 13*, 18, 37, 42, 43, 64
Chapter 6: Question 8, Problems 3, 11, 21, 23, 34, 46
Also, be prepared to discuss Chapter 6: Question 7 in class on Monday, Sep 29.

*For the photon, change "kinetic energy" to "energy"

Assignment #6 Due Mon, Oct 13, 2008

Chapter 3: Problems 9, 12

Chapter 7: Questions 3, 7, Problems 6,  10, 14, 29

Assignment #7 Due Mon, Oct 20, 2008

Chapter 14:  Problems 1, 14, 17, 18, 19, 46
additional problem:
Calculate all possible charges for a pentaquark from the quark/antiquark charges .

Assignment #8 Due Mon, Oct 27, 2008

Chapter 12:  Question 12, Problems 2, 3, 17, 19 (see problem 16), 30 & repeat for 123I, 36, 41

Assignment #9 Due Fri, Nov 1, 2008

Chapter 13: Problem 1, 33 

Chapter 2 : Compute the spacetime intervals (Ds2) for the pairs of events in problems 13 and 16.  For  each,  answer the following

a) What does the  value of Ds2 tell you about whether an observer could observe the events to be at the same place?  to happen at the same time?  

b) How fast would a signal have to go to get from one event to the other?  Could they be causally connected (cause and effect)?

Additional problem #1
a)  From the equation for exponential decay (eq 12.25), derive the following:  The slope of the graph of ln(activity) vs time is equal to the opposite of the decay constant.
b)  Graph the data below, and from the slope of the graph of ln(decay rate) vs time, determine the half-life of this Ba isotope.
(data for the decay rate of 137Bam as a function of time taken by students in PH103, Amanda Quas and Jennifer Stella):

Time (s) Counts per minute
5 285
35 335
65 250
95 211
125 194
155 161
185 197
215 129
245 103
275 125
305 96
335 77

Additional problem #2
 Two identical systems are started with nearly identical initial conditions.  To test the sensitivity to initial conditions, these systems are watched for 14 minutes, and a variable value recorded as a function of time.  We need to look at whether these systems evolve differently or nearly the same.
    a) The data for one such pair of systems is in sheet 1 of the spreadsheet chaos1.xls.   Plot the difference between the two system variables (variable1 and variable2).  Fit to an exponential.  Does this graph seem to indicate that the system is chaotic (of course, justify)
    b) Repeat for the data in sheet 2.

Additional problem #3
A Poincare plot is produced for a particular system, and a pattern emerges.  The variable x at each point is related to the previous x-value by the following equation:
    xn+1 = R(1+xn)(1-xn)
R is related to the strength of a magnetic field, and can be varied by the experimenter.  The inital x-value each time the experiment is done is x1=0.5.  For each of  the following values of R, calculate  xn up to at least n=50 (using Excel or Mathcad, if you like).  What is the behavior of the system for that value of R (for example: period-2, period-8, chaotic, etc).   If the behavior is period-N, list the N values the system is repeatedly visiting.
    a) R = 0.5
    b) R = 1
    c) R = 1.15
    d) R = 1.2
    e) Find a value of R for which the behavior is period-8.