Course Announcements

• 6/09  Grades are now completed, and will be dropped off at Schmitz Hall shortly.  If you can't wait for the registrar to run the program, you are welcome to email Prof. Olmstead to request your grade.  Final exams and the last homework are available for pickup from Prof. Olmstead.  Call or email first if you want to be sure she's around.  Solutions and statistics for the final exam are posted on the Exam Info page. 
  
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  Older announcements.

Office Hours and Contact Information

• You may send Course Related Email to: ph122mo@u.washington.edu either directly or by anonymous email.
• Prof. Marjorie Olmstead olmstd@u.washington.edu    Office: B433    685-3031
• Office Hours:  B433 (may spill over into adjacent lounge or B439).
• After class, 11:20-12:00 MWF or by appointment.
• Teaching Assistant Seong Min Kim  smkim417@u.washington.edu
  
• Office Hours:
• Time and place to be announced, likely on Tuesday or Thursday.

Course Links

• Homework
• Web Communications
• Start of Quarter Survey
• Anonymous email to Prof. Olmstead
• Reference
• Exam Info
• Syllabus
• General Course Information
• Results of Enrollment Survey.

General Information

• Text
• The required text is Statistical and Thermal Physics, by Michael D. Sturge (A. K. Peters, 2003).
• Required Work
• There will be 9 regular homework assignments (see Homework page)
• There will be 2 midterm examinations (see Exam Info page)
• There will be 1 cumulative final examination (see Exam Info page)
• Grade Calculations
• Your best 8 homeworks will count 25% of your grade.
• The best 3 of (midterm 1, midterm 2, half final, half final) will count 25% each.  In other words, if you do better on the final than on one of your midterms, the final will count 50% of your grade and your best midterm will count 25%.  If you do worse on your final than on the midterms, the final will count the same as each midterm -- each worth 25%.
• Timing
• Homework assignments must be turned in by 5 pm the day on which they are due to either Prof. Olmstead or the TA.  Homework turned in between noon and 5 pm should be brought directly to the TA or placed in his mailbox in the main office.  There will typically be a folder there for the homeworks.
  
• If you have special circumstances beyond your control (getting very sick, family emergency, job interview, grad school visits, etc.) that prevent you from timely homework or from being at a midterm, you must contact Prof. Olmstead BEFOREHAND to discuss whether or not accommodations are appropriate.   Circumstances which you should have been able to control (e.g. bad time management), or late notification of Prof. Olmstead (e.g., when you get back from the interview and not before you leave), results in that assignment or midterm being the one which is dropped.

Links to Physics Career/Major Information

• Information on Majoring in Physics at UW.
• UW Women in Science and Engineering
Provides networking, mentoring, tutoring, Study Center (for Credit!)
• UW Chapter of the Society of Physics Students
• Information on Physics Graduate Schools
  
• UW Libraries Reference page on Jobs and Careers.
• American Physical Society Statistical Reports on Physics Education and Employment, including
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• 2004 Salary Summary Report(pdf file)

• Women in Physics and Astronomy, 2005 (pdf file)
  
  Data on current and historic trends in the representation of women in physics and astronomy, including comparative data on women in related fields. Discusses the academic "pipeline" and the point at which women are leaving physics. Data on US minority women and on women in physics in other countries are also presented. Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
  
• Physics Bachelors with Master's Degrees (pdf file)
This report describes physics bachelors who earned their degrees from 1991 through 1993, subsequently earned master's degrees in a variety of fields, and were working in 1999.   Master's degree fields, reasons for attending graduate school, and preparedness for graduate school are all discussed. Also documented are employment fields, salaries, knowledge and skills used on the job, and evaluation of undergraduate physics education.
• The Early Careers of Physics Bachelors (pdf file)
An examination of the employment patterns of people with no degrees other than physics bachelor's degrees, five to eight years after graduation. The report includes common job activities and skills used on the job. It also describes these physics bachelors' evaluations of how well physics education prepared them for careers.
• Initial Employment Report of 2001 and 2002 Physics and Astronomy Degree Recipients (pdf file)

• Physics and Astronomy Senior Report: Class of 2001 (pdf file)
• A window onto the backgrounds, experiences, and future plans of physics and astronomy majors at the point of graduation.

• 2002 Academic Workforce Report (pdf file)

• State-by-State listing of Companies Hiring Physics Bachelors (html) in 1999-2001
  

Old Announcements

• 6/03  The last HW assignment solutions are now posted.  The final exam is 8:30 Monday morning, June 6.  I will be available for questions Friday after class (until around noon) and then again after 1:30 (after the barbeque) in B433.
  
• 5/25  The final topic will be cryogenics.  See the supplemental reading on the Class Notes page.
• 5/25  I pdf'd the MT2 solutions Monday, but forgot to link to them.  They are now linked on the Exam Info page.
• 5/17  Please VOTE HERE on what topics we should cover the last week of the quarter.  Right now Phase Transititions and Cryogenics are essentially tied for first place.  I extended the deadline to 4 pm Friday.
  
• 5/17  Diedrich Schmidt will give the lecture on Wednesday, and Seong-Min Kim will proctor the midterm on Friday.  I will likely have email access 1-2 times/day, but can't promise in advance.  I will be representing UWs Nanotechnology Ph.D. program at the NSF workshop on Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training in Arlington, VA.
  
• 5/6  The Undergraduate Research Symposium is next Friday in Mary Gates Hall from 12-5.  Even if you are not presenting, please stop by to see what your colleagues are up to.  The breadth of topics is really quite impressive.
  
• 4/22  The MT solutions are posted on the Exam Info page.  The next HW assignment may be turned in Tuesday April 26 instead of Monday due to conflicts with Physics 323.
  
• 4/18  The next two HW assignments are posted, as is an update on what is covered on the midterm.  Lecture notes are up to date, and the HW 3 solutions should be posted Tuesday morning.  Please email Prof. Olmstead if there are any problems accessing what you need.
  
• 4/8  The third HW assignment and notes on reading Chap. 5 are now posted on the Homework  page.  The new due dates selected to minimize conflict with Phys 323 are also there.
  
• 3/28  Notes from each lecture will be posted after class as a pdf file on the Class Notes web page, which is password protected.  Homework solutions will also be posted there in the future.  The login and password will be emailed to each student registered in the class.  If you are auditing the class, please email Prof. Olmstead to request the login and password.
• 3/28  In response to popular demand, the first midterm will be April 22 to avoid conflict with the Phys 323 midterm on April 25.  The syllabus has been modified accordingly.
  
• 3/23 Welcome to Physics 328, Statistical Mechanics.  To help me prepare the course at the proper level, please fill out this Start of Quarter Survey by March 31.
  
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