PHYS 402 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Physics 402 Final...
... will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 7-10 pm in room 112 of the Transportation Building. It will cover all the material in the course except for Lectures 21 and 25. Otherwise, emphasis will be placed on material specifically discussed in class and in the lecture notes.
Like the midterm, the exam will be “open book,” meaning that you may bring any course-related print materials to the exam, including the text, lecture notes, graded homeworks, lab writeups, etc. Electronic materials (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.) are not permitted.
Practice exams are not available, but the exam will be similar in style to the midterm.
The Physics 402 Midterm ...
... will be held in class this Wednesday, Oct. 31, 11 am - 12:30 pm. It will cover the material from lectures 1-11 and associated reading (this does *not* include wave packets). Emphasis will be placed on material specifically discussed in class and in the lecture notes.
The exam will be “open book,” meaning that you may bring any course-related print materials to the exam, including the text, lecture notes, graded homeworks, lab writeups, etc. Electronic materials (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.) are not permitted.
Here are two sample exams so you can see the style and length of past midterms: Fall ‘16, Spring ’17.
11/14/18: The average midterm grade was 82. Here are the solutions.
Welcome to Physics 402 !
This is a comprehensive course on the fundamentals of (mainly) classical optics, covering concepts in geometric optics and action principles, matrix techniques for ray tracing, mechanics of classical waves with emphasis on energy and momentum, radiation, light in matter and optical dispersion, polarization effects such as birefringence, wave packets, optical modulators such as phase retarders, interferometry, Kirchhoff and Fresnel theories of diffraction, nonlinear optics, holography, and basic concepts in quantum optics.
This course is aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and other areas of science or engineering, who plan to pursue research or a career in optics or who simply are interested in deepening their knowledge of the subject. The purpose is not to teach all of optics, which could never be covered in a single course, but to cover the foundations of the subject in enough depth to prepare you for any area of specialization.
Course Staff & Office Hours
Prof.: Peter Abbamonte
Office Hours: Mondays 1-1:50 pm or by appointment
Office: 104 Seitz Materials Research Laboratory (not to be confused with MSEB)
Land line: 244-4861
Email: abbamonte@mrl.illinois.edu
TA: Stella Sun
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4 pm
Office: 279 Loomis
Email: xsun53@illinois.edu
TA: Reuven Birnbaum
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12-1 pm
Office: 6107 ESB
Email: birnbam2@illinois.edu
TA: Progna Banerjee
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4-5 pm
Office: 279 Loomis
Email: pbanerj3@illinois.edu
Grader: Muyan Du
Office Hours: Mondays 4-5 pm
Office: 279 Loomis
Email: muyandu2@illinois.edu
Academic Integrity
All activities in this course, including documentation submitted for petition for an excused absence, are subject to the Academic Integrity rules as described in Article 1, Part 4, Academic Integrity, of the Student Code.