The course is addressed to senior students. It is a brief summary of the material covered during the first three years of the undergraduate physics curriculum but at a level of high school mathematics. Emphasis is given in dimensional analysis, the understanding of physical principles and the importance the three laws of quantum mechanics (Heisenberg, Pauli and Schrödinger) in order to understand the structure of matter from the level of protons to the whole Universe.
Tuesday 14:00-16:00 Lecture Room 3
Friday 11:00-13:00 Lecture Room 3
Introduction - The atomic principle - The wave particle duality and the three basic principles of quantum mechanics (Heisenberg, Pauli, Schrodinger) - Stable equilibrium and minimization of the (free) energy - Dimensional analysis - Photons (messengers and staplers) - The other interactions - From quarks to hadrons - From nucleons to nuclei - from nuclei and electrons to atoms - From atoms to molecules - The solid state of matter - Planets - Stars and stellar remnants - Cosmology (The Universe and its history) - The anthropic principle.
- E. N. Οικονόμου "A Short Journey from Quarks to the Universe", SpringerBriefs in Physics, 2011.
- E. N. Economou, "Fixing by thinking: The power of dimensional analysis", AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 1108, pages 1-19, (2009)
