Basic physics courses ~ 2011 : 15 courses

1. Basic physics courses ~ 2011: 15 courses 1600~1900 classical mechanics • Mathematical methods in physics • Mechanics (Newton, Euler, Lagrange, Hamilton, Jacobi; point particles and rigid bodies) • Mechanics of deformable bodies (elasticity, hydrodynamics, acoustics) • Nonlinear dynamics (chaos, turbulence) • Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics (classical ; heat, phases, critical points) • Electrodynamics (many pieces leading up to Maxwell’s equations) • Optics (advanced electrodynamics; applications of Maxwell’s equations) • Special relativity (relations between inertial frames; follows electrodynamics a perfect relativistic system) • General relativity (advanced relativity; general relations between accelerating frames ~ gravity) • Quantum mechanics (non-relativistic; with a consistent, complete set of postulates) • Quantum statistical mechanics (non-relativistic many-body theory) • Quantum field theory (quantum mechanics + special relativity) • M-theory (string theory of membranes; QFT of membranes about a known background metric: ) 14. Quantum gravity* (quantum mechanics + general relativity; background independent QFT) 15. General relativistic M-theory or some superset thereof; e.g. background independent M-theory * When I write “quantum gravity” here I’m thinking of loop quantum gravity, however there are other realizations of quantum gravity (see Rovelli’s 2004 textbook). Also, there are now tractable renormalization group approaches to quantum gravity (e.g. see Daniel Litim, Univ. of Sussex). • This classical mechanics list was motivated from Sommerfeld’s 1946 preface in “Mechanics of Deformable Bodies,” A. Sommerfeld [translated from the 2nd German edition by G. Kuerti, 1950]. • These principles of classical mechanics were in place by about 1900. However, the fields continue to evolve due to their coupling with the quantum and nonlinear regimes: e.g. quantum optics, quantum electronics, nonlinear optics, fiber optics, and others; see Born and Wolf, “Principles of optics,” 7th (expanded) edition, 1999. ~1905 ~1915 1925~2000 quantum mechanics > 2011 BDJ, 2011