Physics 239: Scaling and Estimation in Physics
Spring Term, 2012
Class meets MWF 1:30 to 2:50 PM, SERF 329.
This course presents a diverse set of topics and methods used by
working physicists to confront real-world physical problems. The
course will emphasize physics not encountered in standard courses, as
well as techniques for estimation and problem solving. The class is
aimed at graduate students in physical sciences and engineering, and
at ambitious undergraduates.
Topics include:
- Fluids
- Waves: linear and nonlinear
- Turbulence and Scaling
- Boundary Layers and Heat Transfer
- Strength and Properties of Materials
- Diffusion and Transport Phenomena
- Estimation of Microscopic Quantities
- Applications to astrophysics and cosmology
- Applications to everyday life, including physiology and energy
Students will be assessed via weekly problem sets and class
participation.
Professor Contact Info
Pat Diamond
SERF Buliding, Room 436, 534-4025
phd@mamacass.ucsd.edu
Office hours by appointment (e-mail, phone, personal, drop by)
George Fuller
SERF Buliding, Room 409, 534-9085
gfuller@ucsd.edu
Office hours by appointment (e-mail, phone, personal, drop by)
Tom Murphy
SERF Buliding, Room 336, 534-1844
tmurphy@physics.ucsd.edu
Office hours by appointment (e-mail, phone, personal, drop by)
Recommended Books
In the list below, initials in parentheses indicate which of us have
recommended the book in question.
Highly Recommended
- L. Weinstein and J. A. Adam, Guesstination, Princeton, (TM: a
light-hearted and sometimes frivolous exposure to quantitative estimation)
- S. Mahajan, P. Goldreich, S. Phinney, Order of Magnitude
Physics, available here
(PD, TM: text for Caltech version of course (that TM took); also check out
Eugene Chiang's
website on a similar course at Bekeley).
- V. P. Krainov, Qualitative Methods in Physical Kinetics and
Hydrodynamics, A.I.P., (PD: a sort of "Physical Kinetics for
Dummies"—a very compact, efficient description of a broad range
of topics)
- G. I. Barenblatt, Scaling, C.U.P., (PD: an elegant and
sophisticated introduction to scaling and dimensional analysis)
- D. J. C. MacKay, Sustainable Energy—without the hot air,
available for free at http://www.withouthotair.com/ as a
PDF, (TM: brilliantly quantifies energy use and alternatives—a fun
read)
- Frank Shu's article on the global energy
crisis, (TM: has a nice appendix estimating the scales of renewable energy
options)
Recommended
- D. Tabor, Gases, liquids and solids, Penguin (TM: properties
of atoms, molecules, and their collective properties)
- G. I. Barenblatt, Scaling, Self-Similarity and Intermediate
Asymptotics, (PD: famous and profound work on the mathematics of
scaling. If you think dimensional analysis is trivial, have a look at
this...)
- U. Frisch, Turbulence, C.U.P, (PD: another great book, on
scaling in fluid turbulence)
- Kip Thorne notes on turbulence (PDF),
(PD: a good treatment of the subject; 33 pages)
- Diamond, Itoh, and Itoh book on turbulent plasmas
(PDF), (PD: 588 pages total)
- P. G. DeGennes, Scaling Concepts in Polymer Physics, Cornell
U. Press, (PD: mentioned in Nobel citation, does a great job on scaling in
state mech. of soft matter.)
- V. Levich, Physicochemical Hydrodynamics Prentice Hall,
(PD: good survey of multi-phase mixtures, hydrodynamics, gases, etc. from
"working man" perspective.)
- H. Tennekes and J. Lumley, A First Course in Turbulence, (PD:
good introduction to scaling analysis of real turbulent flows. Complements
Frisch.)
- J. Walker, The Flying Circus of Physics, (website), (TM: loads of
everyday life physics "problems" usually stimulating more
questions than answers)
- A Tutorial on the Basic Physics of
Climate Change, by Hafemeister and Schwartz, (TM: nice seat-of-the-pants
derivation of radiative properties of atmosphere)