Optics from Beginner to Expert - The Physics of Light

Optics from Beginner to Expert - The Physics of Light udemy course

Geometrical, Wave, Physical, Quantum & Modern Optics: Famous Experiments, Effects, Applications & Mathematical Models

This course is for everyone who wants to learn about optics: Beginners to experts!

A bit of high school mathematics (trigonometry, equations) is all you need to know to get started!

The fundamental question of optics is: 'What is light?' Is light a ray or a beam that can be fully described by geometry? Is light a wave that can interfere with other waves and can bend around corners? Does light consist of particles that have an energy and a momentum just like electrons or even macroscopic objects like a football? Here, we will discuss all of these approaches based on theory and experiments. I can guarantee that you will learn a lot no matter what your current skill level is. For advanced students: The later lectures about wave and quantum optics are on a university level.

You are kindly invited to join this carefully prepared course in which we derive the following concepts from scratch. I will present examples and have prepared quizzes and exercises for all topics.

Geometrical optics (3 hours)

• Reflection & Mirrors

• Refraction & Lenses

• Applications: Eye, Microscope & Telescope

Wave optics (or physical optics) (8.5 hours)

• Experiments & Phenomenological description (incl. introduction about derivatives and differential equations)

• Diffraction, interference & Polarization

• Theory based on Maxwell’s equations (incl. introduction to complex numbers)

• Electromagnetic waves in matter: Derivation of the Fresnel equations & Complex refractive indices

Quantum optics (4.5 hours)

• Photons: Quantum description of light (Photoelectric effect, Compton effect)

• Applications: LASER & Solar cell

• Introduction to quantum mechanics

Outlook: Modern optics phenomena

Why me?

My name is Börge Göbel  and I am a postdoc working as a scientist in theoretical physics. Therefore, I use presented concepts very often but I have not forgotten the time when I learned about it and still remember the problems that I and other students had.
I have refined my advisor skills as a tutor of Bachelor, Master and PhD students in theoretical physics and have other successful courses here on Udemy.

I hope you are excited and I kindly welcome you to our course!