Welcome to PHYS 226 Spring 2026
Classroom: PAA A118
Lecture: 11:30-12:50 Tu Th
Instructor: Prof. Gerald Miller (miller@uw.edu)
Instructor Office Hours: Monday 1-3 pm or make an appointment: miller@uw.edu
Contact with Prof. Miller should be done via email
TAs: Bailey Burke bcburke@uw.edu. Skye Kidd skyekidd@uw.edu
TA Office Hours: TBD
Please ask questions in class, Prof. Weisskopf quote on "there are no stupid questions"
Class motto: Physics is not a spectator sport
Topics
This course will be an introduction to special relativity, the particles of the standard model, and some important symmetries in nature.
Course Materials
Robert Resnick -Introduction to special relativity go to https://www.scribd.com/document/273301559/Introduction-to-Special-Relativity-Resnick
Subatomic physics by Henley and Garcia. go to https://faculty.washington.edu/agarcia3/
Yaffe-Ellis Notes go to https://courses.washington.edu/partsym
My notes are in files.
Reading of Additional Interest
Approximate Lecture schedule
Weeks 1-5 Special Relativity
Time dilation, length contraction, Lorentz transformation, space-time theory, relativistic mechanics, conversion of mass into energy, conservation of momentum in nuclear reactions, light-cone coordinates
Week 1 Lectures 1-3 in files, Yaffe-Ellis notes Chapter 1
Weeks 6-10 Symmetries and Particles
Conservation laws- Noether's theorem, electric charge, baryon number,Lepton number, Strangeness, isospin, quarks, P,C, CP, T
Grade Distribution - There is homework, and two midterms
Midterms - 40% each. Thursday April 30, Tuesday June 2
Homework - 20% Due on Tuesdays, 11:59 pm
Homework should be converted to PDF format and uploaded each week by its due date to receive full credit.
Homework shall be submitted on Canvas as a PDF file. Late homework without an extension will be discounted by 25% per day to a minimum of 50%, and will not be accepted after the last lecture class. If you need an extension for any reason, please contact the instructor by email before the homework is due.
Exams
Midterms are scheduled for normal class time and room on Thursday April 30, and Tuesday June 2
Getting Help
Please do not hesitate to contact the TAs or the instructor via email if something is going wrong in the class that we can help with. This includes difficulty with certain concepts or preparation, concerns about grades, or personal issues that have come up that are interfering with the course. The earlier these issues are raised, the more likely it is that satisfactory accommodations can be made.
Access and accommodation
Your experience in this class is important to me, so if you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical), please see details here (Links to an external site.).
Religious observations and holidays will be accommodated, please see details here (Links to an external site)
Safe campus
I am committed to ensuring a safe environment on campus. I suggest you check out the resources available here.