Ph2a Online: Vibrations & Waves

In collaboration with the Caltech Physics Department, and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach (CTLO) at Caltech, and following positive feedback from students, we released an online version of the sophomore/junior physics class on "Vibrations & Waves" I taught with Prof. Frank Porter during Fall 2019. The class is available at:

http://www.waves.caltech.edu

The class deals with keystone concepts of oscillatory behavior in physical systems (such as Simple Harmonic Motion, Normal Modes, Wave Propagation, Fourier Decompositions, Interference, Diffraction, and Polarization) which forms a core foundation in understanding various physical phenomenon. The class is aimed at non-physics majors with a pre-requisite of basic calculus and introductory mechanics, making it accessible to a wide audience. The course balances theory and applications, and covers mathematical as well as heuristic aspects. The course offers many live demonstrations conducted in class which lets the audience see the principles being taught in action, which is a crucial aspect of physics education. We also go on various interesting tangents in the course on how ideas in Vibrations & Waves connect with real-world applications.

In a rather unique offering, course material was made public in June 2020, creating an open-source learning resource, complete with recorded lectures, recitations, homework & exam problems, and their solutions to offer a self-teaching course to audiences beyond Caltech.

Here is the promo video, and don't forget to go through the full course on the website above!