The pre-requisites for this course are PHY 209 and PHY 210. The course is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the basic concepts in solving numerical problems using computer languages. Students will learn to code in languages such as Fortran, MatLab and Octave. This would enable students to simulate physics concepts.
This course deals with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces. It describes the motion of macroscopic objects as well as astronomical objects. It enables the student to make tangible connections between classical and modern physics – an indispensable part of a physicist’s education. The course also introduces students to Special Theory of Relativity, with emphasis on some of its consequences such as the slowing down of clocks and contraction of lengths in moving reference frames as measured by a stationary observer. The relativistic forms of momentum and energy as well as some consequences of the mass-energy relation, E = mc2, will be considered.
The pre-requisite of this course is ENP 399 (Research Methods). Independent research is conducted under the supervision of a departmental academic staff. Project topics will be selected from any of the topics covered in the lectures and other areas of interest, in keeping with the research interests and capabilities of staff of the department.
This course provides the Physics of solar energy production and utilisation; a ubiquitous, inexhaustible, clean, and highly efficient way of meeting the energy needs of the twenty-first century. It is designed to give the students a solid footing in the general and basic physics of solar energy. Specific topics include: the solar energy resource, modelling and simulation, thermal and photovoltaic collectors, solar energy systems, special applications (solar heaters, material processing, etc.) and recent developments in solar technology. Other renewable energy sources will also be discussed.
This course would examine the fundamentals of optical fibres. Review of basic properties of light, and how to couple light in fibres for simple optical systems. Students would learn types of fibres such as single-Mode and graded-index fibre structure as well as holey fibres. Topics would include, signal degradation in optical fibres, optical transmitters and receivers. In this course emphasis would also be on optical communication systems, with an aim to produce students with a foundation and working knowledge of modern photonics concepts/terminology, major opto-electronic devices/components and device measurement/handling.
This course will focus on transmitting information over optoelectronic devices. Modulation and demodulation of analogue and digital signals will be discussed. Transmission medium models for coherent light and acoustic waves will be studied. Filter design and analysis of noisy systems will be treated.
This course is intended as a first level course for microcomputer and embedded system design. Various aspects of hardware design, such as interfacing of memory and different types of I/O devices, will be covered in detail. There will be laboratory assignments on assembly language programming of 8085 and 8051. The students will also learn to use development aids such as a simulator and an in-circuit-emulator to perform software development, hardware development and hardware-software integration.
This course introduces students to important phenomena and physical processes that occur in the earth's atmosphere, as well as to the basic concepts and instruments used to study atmospheric problems. Topics discussed include atmospheric radiation, thermodynamics, moisture, stability, clouds, and precipitation.
This course is naturally dependent on the physics and properties of semiconductors themselves. It treats devices in which both electrons and holes are involved in the transport processes. The main part of the course focuses on the types of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETS) and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices which are the main types of semiconductor devices on the market. The use of transistor devices and their design will also be discussed. Also discussed are some contemporary solid state devices such as light-emitting diodes, injection lasers and solar cells.
Students would be introduced to the following:
Geometric Optics: Fermat’s Principle, colour dispersion, plane surfaces and prisms, thin prisms, the combination of thin prisms, images formed by paraxial rays, optical fibre, spherical surfaces, derivation of the Gaussian formula, thin lenses, spherical mirrors, lens aberrations, optical instruments.
Heat: Macroscopic and microscopic descriptions of temperature and thermodynamic equilibrium measurement of temperature and heat, Heat capacity and specific heat capacity, heat transfer, thermal energy balance. Kinetic theory of gases, First law of thermodynamics, Second law of thermodynamics, the third law of thermodynamics.
Atomic Theory: Discovery of the electron, atoms and the periodic table, light sources and their spectra, the structure of the atom, Photoelectric effect, X-rays, electromagnetic waves and vacuum tubes, vacuum tubes and transistors, electron optics, spinning electrons, Radio, Radar, TV, and microwaves, photon collisions and atomic waves.
