Course description:

This course will provide a thorough introduction to the field of optics and its modern applications. It is assumed that the students are familiar with reflection, refraction (Snell's law), and dispersion on a phenomenological level. This course will start with Huygens principle, the wave equation, and the superposition principle. A discussion of the interaction between light and matter will help to understand the basic properties of lasers. Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, coherence theory, interferometry, and Gaussian optics are among the topics that will also be covered.

Material
The course is organized as described on this web page. The primary textbook is "Principles of Physical Optics" by Charles Bennett. The schedule will evolve during the course and might also include material from other books such as "Introduction to Optics" by Pedrotti, Pedrotti, Pedrotti, "Optics" by Eugene Hecht, "Principles of Optics" by Born and Wolf, "Lasers" by Anthony Siegman, or "Quantum Optics" by Mark Fox.

Prerequisites
All students desiring to take this course should have at least two semester of introductory physics, two semester of calculus, and one semester of EM like PHY3323 (EM1). Some knowledge of Quantum Mechanics is useful (on the PHY4604 level) but not required.

Students will be expected to regularly attend classes, since material outside of the textbook may be covered.

Grading:
The final grade will be based on two in-class exams (20% each), a final exam (25%), an in-class presentation (15%), and homework (20%). There will be approximately 8 homework assignments.
Homework grades will not only depend on the answer obtained but will also reflect coherence of presentation. Important details should be presented in an orderly fashion without the inclusion of irrelevant arguments or unproductive dead ends. Drawings which show that the student understood the problem will also improve the grades.

Homework assignments will be made in class and later posted on the following website Homework Assignments .

Students should check the news page for announcements of schedule changes, exams and other news items related to the course.

A tentative schedule is available here . This is only a first draft and only a guideline what to expect roughly when. We will keep things flexible.

Additional notes:

Attendance will not be monitored; however, exam questions will mostly come from topics discussed in class. Homeworks have to be returned in class. Exceptions regarding returning your homework might be granted on a case by case base and require either prior approval from the instructor or a valid excuse.

Students who miss an exam with a valid excuse will be given a makeup later in the semester.

Students with disabilities: "Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation."

Academic Honesty:

Please review the University Policies on Academic Honesty.