The
book is targeted at the first year undergraduate science and engineering
students. Starting with oscillations in general, the book moves to interference
and diffraction phenomena of waves and concludes with elementary applications of Schr¨odinger’s wave equation in quantum mechanics. Topics covered includes:
Oscillations, The Damped Oscillator, Oscillator with external forcing,
Resonance, Coupled Oscillators, Sinusoidal Waves, Electromagnetic Waves, The
Spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation, Interference, Coherence, X-ray
Diffraction, Polarization, Wave-particle duality and Quantum Mechanics.
Author(s): Somnath Bharadwaj and S. Pratik Khastgir
This note explains the
physics of waves and oscillations including sound, elastic and electromagnetic
waves. Topics covered includes: the theory of simple harmonic oscillators,
transverse modes of a continuous string, and physical optics including
interference, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction, and resolution, to diffraction
of X-rays and electrons by crystals.
This bookeExamines
and explains vibrations, resonance, free waves, and bounded waves. Includes a
glossary, index, photo credits, and useful data page. This book is part of the
Light and Matter series of introductory physics textbooks.
The aim of this
textbook is to develop a unified mathematical theory of oscillations and waves.
Examples are drawn from the physics of discrete mechanical systems; continuous
gases, fluids, and elastic solids; electronic circuits; electromagnetic waves;
optical systems; and, finally, quantum mechanical systems.