SLIDE NUMBER 6: Basic ideas About Light

I.

Why talk about light?

Three great theories of 19th & 20th century physics
came from the need to resolve fundamental issues
about the nature of light (Relativity,
Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics)
It helps us see and manipulate the very small
It provides information about remote objects

III. The Speed of Light

How did we realize that the speed of light is finite?

What is the speed of light?
Is the speed of light measurable/finite ?

Kepler : Speed of light infinite because vacuum of space did

not slow the speed of light down.

II. The Nature of Light

A. Particle theory I: corpuscles

Galileo : started the measurement game

Flash from military artillery shows light travels
faster than sound. Speed of light not necessarily infinite.

Isaac Newton: explained the reflection and refraction of

light in terms of a stream of corpuscular bodies
allowed the development of Geometric
Optics (light propagating as straight rays)

Speed of light measured using lanterns:

Suggestion 1638, experiments 1667

B. Wave theory: light waves

1.
2.
3.

Christian Huygens (late 1600s): described light in terms of

advancing wavefronts instead of streams of particles

4.

Thomas Young and others (early 1800s): performed

experiments to demonstrate the wave nature of light,
particularly when encountering small obstacles

Two people stood at least a mile apart.

Both had covered lanterns.
When one person uncovered his lantern,
the other person had to uncover his
lantern when he saw this.
Third person measured the time between
when the first and second lanterns where
uncovered.

Repeated experiments failed to accurately measure

any time interval between when the first and
second lanterns were uncovered.

They could only say that light travels very fast

Olaus Roemer 1676 : speed of light measured using the

moons of Jupiter using one of Jupiter's
he established that the speed of light is finite.
Observed eclipse times (about
once every 1.76 days) of Io
deviated from predictions
cyclically
C. Particle theory II: photons
Max Planck: Explained emission of radiation (light) by
blackbodies in terms of energy quanta
Albert Einstein, 1905: Explained photoelectric effect using
photons energy packets

D. Modern view
Light is both a wave and a particle
The propagation of light is more completely
described by the wave theory (but can be
approximated to some extent by geometric
optics).
The interaction of light with matter
(absorption and emission) is best explained by
a quantum theory (i.e. photons).

Roemer realized deviation

caused by difference in EarthJupiter distance and finite
speed of light
According to Huygens: orbital
diameter of Earth was about: 3
x 1011 m
Roemer observed a cumulative discrepancy of 22 minutes
Using Huygens estimate of distance, and Roemers idea
what value would have been computed for the speed of
light?
cRoemer = 3 x 1011 m / 22 minutes =3 x 1011 m / 1320 s
= 230,000 km/s

James Bradley 1728 : stellar aberration

Discovers that the finite speed of light, combined with the
motion of the Earth causes a shift in the observed position
of the stars stellar aberration
c =301 000 km/s

Other measurements of the speed of light

Fizeau 1849 : rotating toothed wheel c = 315,000 km/s
Foucault 1850: rotating mirror device
c = 298,000 km/s
Albert Michelson: used Foucault's method but with very
high accuracy mirrors farther apart: 2000 ft instead of 60 ft
1879
1888

Albert Michelson Rotating Mirror 299,910

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
Electromagnetic
Radiation 300,000
1889
Edward Bennett Rosa
Electrical
Measurements
300,000
1890s Henry Rowland Spectroscopy
301,800
1907
Edward Bennett Rosa/Noah Dorsey
Electrical Measurements
299,788
1923
Andre Mercier
Electrical Measurements
299,795
1926
estimate:299,796 km/s
1928
August Karolus and Otto Mittelstaedt
Kerr Cell Shutter
299,778
1932 to 1935 Pease and Pearson
Rotating Mirror (Interferometer) 299,774
1947
Louis Essen Cavity Resonator
299,792
1949
Carl I. Aslakson Shoran Radar 299,792.4
1951
Keith Davy Froome
Radio Interferometer
299,792.75
1973
Kenneth M. Evenson Laser
299,792.457
1978
Peter Woods and Colleagues
Laser
299,792.4588
Source:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/speedoflig
ht.html

What is the speed of light?

By the 1970s lasers and cesium clocks made very accurate
measurements possible - to the point where the speed of
light was known more accurately to the nearest metre per
second than the definition of a metre itself.
It made sense to define a standard metre by fixing the speed
of light.
In 1983, SI (Systeme International) definition of a metre:
The metre is the length of the path traveled by light in
vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
So: c = 299 792 458 m/s

SLIDE NUMBER 7: Electricity, Magnetism, & Light

Guide Questions
What is electric charge? What are some properties
of charge?
What are electric and magnetic fields? How are
electric and magnetic fields produced?
What is the relationship between light and other
electromagnetic waves?
1.

Back to Repulsion and Attraction

q1q2
2
9 r 2

The electric charge

Charge is an intrinsic property of matter, the same way

mass is an intrinsic property of
matter.
All matter is composed of
discretely charged particles
electrons and protons.

F =k

Compare: k= 9 x 10 N-m / C2 vs
N-m2/ kg2

3.

G=6.67300 10-11

The electric field

unit of electric charge : coulomb, C.

2.

Charles Coulomb studied the forces between

electrical charges.
Coulombs Law is similar to Newtons Law of
Gravitation:

Properties of a charge

How does a distant charge know if other charges

have moved?
Michael Faraday conceived electric field lines or
Lines of Force to resolve his discomfort with the
action-at-a-distance concept.
Electric field lines point along the direction which
a test charge would experience a force.

Dichotomy of Charge: There are 2 kinds of charge,

positive and negative.
Unlike charges attract, like charges repel.

The charged particles themselves are

referred to as electric charges.
Conservation of Charge:
Neutral objects contain equal amounts of positive
and negative charges.
Excess of one type of charge over the other results
in the object having a net charge.
Charges are not created or destroyed, only
transferred between objects.
Quantization of Charge
Charge always appears in multiples of e
e = 1.602 x 10-19 C = the charge of a proton/electron

Benjamin Franklin & Electricity:

Studied static electricity between different materials.
Found that objects could be positively or negatively
charged.
battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge,
uncharged, negative, minus, plus,
electric shock, and electrician
Annihilation of Charges
Actually, charges can be destroyed (and even
created) but always in equal and opposite pairs.
THE NET CHARGE OF THE UNIVERSE IS
CONSTANT.

An electric charge sets-up an electric field in the

space around it.
Other charges experience a force due to that
electric field.
Any changes to the position or magnitude of the
original charge translates to a change in the electric
field that propagates outward at the speed of light.

4.

The magnetic field

The magnetism associated with iron

(ferromagnetism), particularly magnetite was a
long known phenomenon.
Similar to electric charges, there are two types of
magnetic poles: north and south.*
* Nobody has ever been able to observe a single pole by
itself (a magnetic monopole).

5.

Electromagnetism

Maxwell did not form these equations.*

But by combining them, he predicted the existence
of traveling electromagnetic waves with a very
interesting property...
* He did make a slight correction to the last equation.
6.

Light as an electromagnetic wave

According to Maxwells equations, electromagnetic

waves travel at the speed of light!
Maxwell concluded: Light is an electromagnetic wave.

Hans Christian Oersted and Andre-Marie Ampere showed

that moving charges (electrical current ) could influence,
and be influenced by magnets.
Moving charges create magnetic fields (B)
Magnetic fields exert forces on other moving charges (and
conductors carrying electrical current).
This electro-dynamic principle* makes the electric motor**
possible (as first constructed by Michael Faraday.)
* Also known as electromagnetic induction
**Electrical to Mechanical Energy

Faraday constructed the first electric generator* via

electromagnetic induction
Moving a wire through a magnetic field generates
an electrical current. Moving a magnet around a
wire does the same.

Changing magnetic field will cause charges to move (thus

produce current).
SUMMARY
Electric charges create electric fields.
Moving electric charges create magnetic fields.
Changing (time-varying) magnetic fields create
electric fields.
James Clerk Maxwell

Organized the existing concepts of electricity and

magnetism in a cohesive mathematical framework.
Added his own discovery: changing (time-varying)
electric fields create magnetic fields

r
q
E
ndA =

r
B
ndA = 0

r r
d
E
dl = dt B
r r
d

B
dl = 0 ic + 0 dt E

Maxwell did not form these equations.*

But by combining them, he predicted the existence
of traveling electromagnetic waves with a very
interesting property...

The EM Spectrum
Visible light is only a small segment of the very
wide electromagnetic spectrum.
The properties of different magnetic waves depend
on their wavelength (frequency), but they all
represent oscillating electric and magnetic fields.

SLIDE NUMBER 8: Blue Skies, Red Sunsets, Rainbows & Other Optical Spectacles
What happens when light hits an object?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The waves can be absorbed by the object.

The waves can be transmitted through the object.
The waves can be reflected off the object.
The waves can be refracted through the object.
For small objects, the waves can be scattered in
different directions.

Illustration 3: Why pencils look bent when submerged in

water?
A.
Snells law (Law of Refraction): n1 sin (1) = n2 sin (2)

B.

C.

D.

The specific behavior of light when it strikes an

object depends on its wavelength.

For visible light, we experience different

wavelengths as different colors (demo on
transmission & reflection).

Illustration 1: Reflecting the beauty of light

Illustration 2: Why are most leaves green?

Chlorophyll: RED and VIOLET light are

ABSORBED
Green light is REFLECTED

n = index of refraction = c / v
nair ~ 1.0 nwater = 1.33
v = speed of light in the medium

Illustration 4: Why are there rainbows?

White light is made up of various colors

Speed of light in vacuum (c) is the same for all
colors
Speed of light in a medium (v) depends on
color/wavelength
Therefore n depends on wavelenght
(DISPERSION)

Illustration 5.1: Why are clouds white

Illustration 5.2: Why are sunsets red?

Light of lower frequency is scattered the least by

nitrogen and oxygen molecules
Thicker atmosphere presented to sunlight at sunset
than at noon
So more blue is scattered at sunset, so transmitted
light becomes redder

Longer Answer

Secondary reflected light also form rainbow patterns

Illustration 4.2: Uniqueness of rainbows
Two observers standing apart from one another do not see
the same rainbow.
Illustration 4.3: Pot of Gold at the end of a rainbow?
Sorry Rainbows are suspended in mid air, hence it does not
end anywhere in the ground
Illustration 5: Why is the sky blue? Scattering.
Particles much smaller than wavelengths of light
scatter light in all directions.

Blue (~450 nanometer wavelength) is scattered

over four times more strongly than red (~650
nm).

Small dust particles are Rayleigh scatterers.

Tuning fork analog

Atoms, molecules and very tiny particles absorb
and reemit light at the same frequency
The tinier the particle, the higher the frequency of
light it will scatter (think of bells: smaller bells
tend to ring with higher notes than larger bells)
Of the visible frequency light, violet is scattered
the most, followed by blue, green, yellow, orange,
and red
Red is scattered only 1/10th as much as violet light
Although violet light is more scattered than blue,
our eyes are not very sensitive to violet light
The lesser amount of blue predominates in our
vision so we see a blue sky
If there are a lot of dust particles, light of lower
frequency/higher wavelength is also scattered so
sky may be whitish blue
Most ultraviolet light from sun absorbed by ozone
layer
Remaining UV light scattered by atmospheric
particles and molecules

Q1: After a heavy rainstorm, the sky becomes a deeper blue.

Why?
Q2: If molecules in the sky scatters low frequency light
(longer wavelength) more than high frequency (shorter
wavelength) light, how would the colors of the sky and
sunsets appear?
Q3: Distant dark mountains are bluish in color. What is the
source of this blueness?
Q4: Why is the ocean blue?

SLIDE NUMBER 9: On Particles,

II.

Waves, & Wave-Particles

Brief Historical Overview

Waves vs Particles:

Corpuscular Theory of Light (1704)

Isaac Newton proposed that light consists of a
stream of small particles, because it
travels in straight lines at great speeds
is reflected from mirrors in a
predictable way

Wave Theory of Light (1802)

Thomas Young showed that light is a wave,
because it
undergoes diffraction and interference
(Youngs double-slit experiment)

II.

Defining properties of particles & waves

A particle is localized in space, and has

discrete
physical properties such as mass

A wave is inherently spread out over many

wave-lengths in space, and could have
amplitudes in a continuous range

Waves superpose and pass through

(interference) each other, while particles
collide and bounce off each other

III.

Wave theory of light

Diffraction

Interference

Particles: Position x, Mass m, Momentum p = mv

Waves: Wavelength, Amplitude A,
Frequency f (inverse of period T)
number of cycles per second (Hertz)
f = c /

T = 1/

Interference Fringes on a Screen

Double-Slit Experiment

IV.

Modern particle theory of Light

Plot of intensity of the blackbody radiation versus

wavelength for various temperatures

A. Introduction

Plot of intensity of the blackbody radiation versus

frequency for various temperatures

Ultraviolet Catastrophe

Any hot body radiates light

over the whole spectrum of frequencies
The spectrum depends on both frequency and
temperature
Examples: light bulbs, the Universe

B. The Blackbody Radiation

Classical theory predicts a graph that deviates from

experimental data, especially at short wavelengths
Plancks Quantum Postulate (1900)
Definition: A blackbody is an object which totally
absorbs all radiation that falls on it

Max Planck (1858-1947) is generally regarded as the

father of quantum theory

Spectrum

A blackbody can only emit radiation in

discrete packets or quanta, i.e., in
multiples of the minimum energy:
E = hf
where h is a constant and f is the
frequency of the radiation

Photoelectric Effect: Response to Blue Light

When blue light is shone on the emitter plate,

a current flows in the circuit

Result: A radiation law in extremely good

agreement with experiment

Plancks Constant

Experimentally determined to be
h = 6.63 x 10-34 Joule sec
(Joule = kg m2 / sec2)
A new constant of nature, which turns out to
be of fundamental importance in the new
quantum theory

C. Photoelectric effect: What is it?

But for red light, no current flows in the circuit

Photoelectric Effect: Experimental Observations

Light falling on metallic surface can

eject electrons from surface.

Only light with a frequency (f) greater than a

certain threshold (f>fthresh) will produce a
current
Current begins almost instantaneously (for f >
fthresh), even for light of very low intensity
Current is proportional to the intensity of the
incident light

Photoelectric Effect: Problems with Wave Theory

The wave theory of light cannot explain these
observations
For waves, energy depends on amplitude and
not frequency
This implies that a current should be produced
when say, high-intensity red light is used

D. Einsteins Postulate (1905)

Light consists of particles, now known as

photons

A photon hitting the emitter plate will eject an

electron if it has enough energy

Each photon has energy:

E = hf

(same as Plancks formula)

E. Everyday Evidence for Photons

Electron interference pattern after (a) 8 electrons, (b) 270

Red light is used in photographic darkrooms

because
it is not energetic enough to break the
halogen-silver bond in black and white films

Ultraviolet light causes sunburn but visible

light does not because UV photons are more
energetic

Our eyes detect colour because photons of

different energies trigger different chemical
reactions in retina cells

Electron as a particle: trying to detect which

slit the electrons pass through causes them to
behave like particles

Other Evidence for Photons: Atomic spectra

VI.

V.

Wave-particle duality

Determines the probability of an electron

arriving at a certain spot on the screen
Electron as a wave: After many electrons,
resembles the interference pattern of light

Summary

Waves and particles exhibit very different

behaviour

Yet, light sometimes behaves like particles

spectrum of blackbody radiation
photoelectric effect
spectral lines

And electrons sometimes behave like

waves
interference pattern of electrons

In quantum theory, the distinction between

waves and particles is blurred

SLIDE NUMBER 10: Relativity

I. Newtons Laws vs. Maxwells Equations

B. Consequences of Special Relativity Postulates

1. We have to stop thinking of time and space as
independent of each other

Galilean transformation: Speed observed (v) = c - u

Principia - Newton
Newtons laws Consistent with Galilean transformation
2. Velocity addition formula modified
A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field (1864) Maxwell
Maxwells equations NOT consistent with Galilean
transformation

3. Time Dilation

At least one had to be wrong.

II. Special Relativity

A. Postulates
1. The Speed of Light is Constant
The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all
observers
2.

Principle of Invariance
The laws of physics are the same for all inertial
reference systems

4. Length Contraction

5.

Relativity of Simultaneity

Set Up 1:

A concludes the two events (p and q) were simultaneous

if A & B have the same speed --- B agrees with A

Consequences:
1.

Predicts that Gravity bends light

Set Up 2:

A: still concludes the two events (p and q) were

simultaneous
B: light hits p before it hits q, therefore the two events (p
and q) were NOT simultaneous
A and B are both right; simultaneity is relative.

6. E=mc2
Slides: Visualization of the consequences of SR

III. General Relativity

Special relativity had problems dealing with
gravitation
Special relativity is only valid for constant velocity
frames
It took 10 years for Einstein to come up with a
satisfactory theory of gravity.
Postulates

Principle of Equivalence: Inertial and

gravitational mass are equivalent /
indistinguishability of gravitational field and
accelerating reference frame
Principle of Relativity: The laws of physics are
the same in all reference systems

Path of light from distant quasar bent by gravitational field

of nearby galaxy
four bright outer images

2.

Correct Perihelion Shift of Mercury

Newton's theory - predicted a shift only of observed

value

5. Time is slowed as the strength of gravitational fields

increases
6. Gravitational
waves???

Einstein's predictions exactly matched the observation

3.

Predicts the existence of Blackholes

If gravity can bend light then a very large gravitational

field can bend light so much that it can not escape
this is a black hole.

Astronomers have
realized that a rare set
of double stars is made
up of two pulsars1.
This unique discovery
will allow them to test
Einstein's theory of
relativity in novel
ways, and to better
understand the energy
beams that pulsars
generate.
"This is a hugely
significant discovery,"
says Robert Massey of
the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich, in London, UK. Einstein predicted the existence
of gravitational waves, but they have never been directly
observed. "There aren't many objects out there that could be
a copious enough source of gravitational waves, but this is
one of them," he says.
Source: Nature Science Update, 30 December 2003
EINSTEINs QUOTES
"I sometimes ask myself how it came about that I was the
one to develop the theory of relativity. The reason, I think, is
that a normal adult never stops to think about problems of
space and time. These are things which he has thought
about as a child. But my intellectual development was
retarded,as a result of which I began to wonder about space
and time only when I had already grown up."
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like
an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like
a minute. THAT'S relativity."

4. Verification of expanding universe

Our universe is not static it is expanding and has
been since it started about 14 billion years ago.
First observed by Edwin Hubble
Observatory in Mount Wilson, California
How? The Doppler Effect

1960 Harvard
Beam of high energy gamma rays slightly red shifted
at higher elevation

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with
their own hearts."
"Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling
in love"
"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above
and the moral universe within ."
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human
stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

SLIDE NUMBER 11: Extrasolar planets

B. Radial Velocity Measurements

1. Whats a Planet?

Mass - less than 10 times the mass of Jupiter

(the deuterium fusion limit)
Formation - built up from particles in a dusty disk
not condensed from a gas cloud like a star or
a brown dwarf
Types Terrestrial or Jovian

Proponents: Michael Mayor, Didier Queloz, Geoff Butler

Paul Marcy
Stellar Wobble: Even the sun is moving

2. Why We Search

to discover new horizons

to get around the dangerous problem of using a
single example to create a theory
to cure cosmic loneliness

3. Search Techniques
Some Planet Detection Methods
A. Pulsar timing
Pulsars
old, collapsed stars that spin up to several
thousand times a second.
send out beams of radiation along their
magnetic axes.

As a beam
sweeps by us,
we see a pulse
of light, as if the
Earth was a ship
floating near a
lighthouse
beat of a pulsar
is extremely

C. Astrometry

Definition : measures the position of a star against

the sky (the proper motion)

Basic Idea : low-mass companions will cause a

wiggle in a stars path
possible to obtain more information than by
observing the radial velocity
requires high-precision observations

regular
The first extrasolar planets ever found were detected
this way.
In 1991 Alexander Wolszcan at Pennsylvania State
University detected irregularities in the beat of a
pulsar in Virgo.
Virgo - group of galaxies 97.8 Million light years away
from earth

Analysis of the data, led to the conclusion that 3

planets, each about the size of the Earth were
orbiting the pulsar.

D. Photometry

Basic Idea: look for variations in a stars brightness

caused by transiting planets

Limitation: orbital plane oriented correctly

F. Direct Imaging

NO EXAMPLES MENTIONED

E. Gravitational Microlensing

Basic Idea: A star passing in front of a more distant

object will act as a lens.

A planet orbiting the lensing star will leave a

special signature in the light profile.

4. What Have Been Found

Planets are everywhere!

The probability that a star harbors a planet

depends on the star's metal content.

Candidate planets around main sequence stars

Planetary
systems
Planets
Multiple
planets

July 22
2004
108

February
24 2005
132

August
04 2005
138

January
31 2006
147

123
13

152
14

162
18

170
18

5. Recent News
Detection of a planet smaller than Pluto reported
Fourth planet in Wolszcans original
pulsar system * (first planets detected).
*Revolving around a pulsar not a regular star.