Summer 2009

Professor C. D. Cantrell, UT-Dallas

COURSE INFORMATION

Table of Contents

Time and Place of class meetings

Teaching Personnel

Class

Homework

Web Site

Required Textbook

Examinations

Where and when the class will meet

Where: ECSN 2.112

When: Monday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:45 PM

Teaching Personnel

Office hours: Saturdays 1:30 PM -- 3:30 PM; other times by appointment.

Prof. Cantrell's office is located in ECSN 2.302.

Send email to Prof. Cantrell

(cantrell@utdallas.edu)

Telephone numbers:

• Voice: (972) 883-2868
• Fax: (972) 883-2813 (Please avoid using fax if at all possible)

Office Hours: Tuesday 5:30-7:30 PM

The TA's office is ECSN 4.624.

Send email to the TA

(sma074000@utdallas.edu)

Web site

Required Textbook

Principles of Physical Optics, by Charles A. Bennett (Wiley, 2008); ISBN 978-0470122129

Recommended Books

Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Optics, ISBN 0-07-027730-3, by Eugene Hecht, is a very useful collection of solved problems and additional exercises. Since homework solutions will not be posted, studying the solved problems in this book is strongly recommended.

Principles of Optics, ISBN 0521642221, by Max Born and Emil Wolf, is a comprehensive reference on physical optics.

Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics, 3rd Edition, ISBN 0471585513, by Simon Ramo, John R. Whinnery, and Theodore Van Duzer (Wiley, 1994), is a classic text on electromagnetics that many students like.

Class

Class Attendance Policy:

Class attendance is required.

Homework

Grading:

Homework will receive 50% of full credit if you make a serious attempt at solving all problems. The remaining 50% of the homework credit will be given if the answers (or method) are correct.

Homework Policy:

1. NO LATE HOMEWORK! Homework will be considered late at 10:00 AM the day after it is due, and will not be graded without a valid excuse.
2. ALL HAND-WRITTEN ANSWERS TO HOMEWORK PROBLEMS MUST BE ON ENGINEERING PAPER TO RECEIVE CREDIT. NO EXCEPTIONS! (Pads of engineering paper are available in the UTD Bookstore and in many office-supply stores.)
3. DO NOT COPY HOMEWORK SOLUTIONS! You will cheat only yourself if you do. Many of the problems on the midterm and final exams will be very similar to exercises that have been assigned as homework. If you do not attempt to solve the homework exercises yourself, you will be completely unprepared for the exams, and will be likely to fail the course.
4. Organize your answer as shown in Example 1 or Example 2. State clearly the assumptions made in solving the problem, the theory or formula(s) to be used, and show all of the steps of the solution. Organizing your work in this way will help you follow the directions given for each problem.
5. Make your solutions as clear and neat as possible.
6. Follow the instructions given in the problem.
7. Staple your homework. If homework is not stapled, points will be deducted and neither the TA nor the instructor will be responsible if pages get lost.
8. No spiral notebook pages will be accepted.
9. Number your questions. The assigned order is preferred.
10. Pencil is preferred. If you use pen, please use only one side of the paper.
11. Units are required thoughout your solution (if applicable).
12. Box or somehow otherwise clearly mark your final answer.
13. Copies of sample programs with no work or output will receive no credit.
14. Your homework should include all valid or required steps so that you or someone else could follow your method for a similar question. Some measures to achieve this include:
1. Label equations taken from the text.
2. List all given data and what you are looking for.
3. List formulas to be combined or used before you start algebraic manipulations.
4. Make numerical substitutions only at the end, if required.
5. Define all variables you use.
6. Explain what you are doing.
7. Document your code.
8. A correct solution must be such that the TA can follow it or full credit will not be given.
15. Doing a good job on homework benefits everyone. You'll do better on the tests, and your homework scores will be higher. If you believe that a problem has been graded incorrectly or unfairly, then please see the TA.

Examinations

Midterm exam: Wednesday, July 7, 2008, during regular class hours, in ECSN 2.120. The exam will be closed-book, one formula sheets, calculator allowed. The exam will cover the topics assigned as homework to be handed in by Wednesday, June 25.

Final exam: Friday, August 8, 2008, from 5:30 PM to 8:15 PM, in ECSN 2.120. The exam will be closed-book, two formula sheets, calculator allowed. The exam will be comprehensive.