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Atomic Collisions and Spectroscopy Lectures

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Prof. P. C. Deshmukh has mentioned his lectures in atomic collisions and spectroscopy which are available online at NPTEL (link below). He discusses Levinson’s theorem in lectures 10-11-12 of the series. I’ve had a preliminary look at the slides and believe that they will be very helpful with my study of Levinson’s theorem.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on PCD’s classical mechanics lectures three years ago, which are also available via NPTEL, and found them very enjoyable, and stimulating of ideas and opportunities for further investigation. The greatest benefit I obtained from that course was the start of learning how to really “do physics work”.

There is a blending of ideas in physics work. Real physics does not fit in tidy little packages, courses called classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, atomic physics, whatever. Rather these are all perspectives of the physics view of nature. One cannot learn subject A without also learning at least a grounding in subjects B, C, D, etc. Each time one revisits a topic, new insight is obtained into material that was likely previously familiar. It is like listening to good poetry or music, or looking at art. Aside: the best art is that which will still be of interest after the 150-th time one has looked at it. Physics is like that. It is an approach to looking at nature, which is still interesting after many more than only 150 re-considerations.

Here are links to the three NPTEL courses by Prof. P. C. Deshmukh.

The classical mechanics course mentioned above. Introductory:
http://nptel.ac.in/courses/115106068/

A course in atomic physics. Logically precedes collisions course:
http://nptel.ac.in/courses/115106057/

The atomic collisions and spectroscopy course. Advanced:
http://nptel.ac.in/courses/115106085/

Perhaps you will find something useful for your own interests, in these courses or in the many other excellent courses which NPTEL is making available.

There is a great deal that I do not know, which is a tremendous opportunity to learn interesting stuff. Perhaps that could be the idea behind a toast: “May your glass always be half-empty!”

Best wishes,
Ken Roberts
24-May-2014

NPTEL Online Courses

NPTEL (at http://nptel.ac.in ) is an collection of online university-level courses. It is an excellent learning resource for self-study. Fields include engineering, physics, and many others. See the website for details.

My present enjoyment is watching the Classical Field Theory course taught by Suresh Govindarajan, just released last month. The course has 39 lectures — so far, I’ve watched three of them. Prof Govindarajan is a good teacher, and conveys his enthusiasm for physics. The best way to visit his course is to go via his website at http://sgovindarajan.wikidot.com/cftontheweb as there he provides pdf files of the exercises, and other material. The NPTEL website also has a link to that material.

It is excellent that there is so much good material available online for self-study. Watching lectures is slow, compared to reading books, but it has the advantage that one gets a feel for what’s important. I’ve usually found it advantageous to use multiple sources to learn a topic. And to repeat. My personal method is a 90-10 scheme. I start in a subject at a point where about 90 percent of what is presented is familiar, and am just getting a bit of new information, plus a familiarity with the author’s notation and methods. Then I read, or watch, until I get to the level where the material is 90 percent new, and only 10 percent familiar. About that point I am overwhelmed by the new information, and have to take a break. Later I can return and, upon return, I find that my “90 percent comprehension” level has advanced.

Happy viewing!

Ken Roberts

14-Dec-2013

ps — added 05-Jan-2014: The NPTEL website hostname has changed, and is now http://nptel.ac.in/ not the former nptel.iitm.ac.in — change incorporated in text of post above.