物理学专业英语.docx
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物理学专业英语
物理学专业英语
华中师范大学物理学院
物理学专业英语
仅供内部学习参考!
2014
一、课程的任务和教学目的
通过学习《物理学专业英语》,学生将掌握物理学领域使用频率较高的专业词汇和表达方法,进而具备基本的阅读理解物理学专业文献的能力。
通过分析《物理学专业英语》课程教材中的范文,学生还将从英语角度理解物理学中个学科的研究内容和主要思想,提高学生的专业英语能力和了解物理学研究前沿的能力。
培养专业英语阅读能力,了解科技英语的特点,提高专业外语的阅读质量和阅读速度;掌握一定量的本专业英文词汇,基本达到能够独立完成一般性本专业外文资料的阅读;达到一定的笔译水平。
要求译文通顺、准确和专业化。
要求译文通顺、准确和专业化。
二、课程内容
课程内容包括以下章节:
物理学、经典力学、热力学、电磁学、光学、原子物理、统计力学、量子力学和狭义相对论
三、基本要求
1.充分利用课内时间保证充足的阅读量(约1200~1500词/学时),要求正确理解原文。
2.泛读适量课外相关英文读物,要求基本理解原文主要内容。
3.掌握基本专业词汇(不少于200词)。
4.应具有流利阅读、翻译及赏析专业英语文献,并能简单地进行写作的能力。
四、参考书
正文标记说明:
蓝色Arial字体(例如energy):
已知的专业词汇
蓝色Arial字体加下划线(例如electromagnetism):
新学的专业词汇
黑色TimesNewRoman字体加下划线(例如postulate):
新学的普通词汇
1Physics物理学
Introductiontophysics
Physicsisapartofnaturalphilosophyandanaturalsciencethatinvolvesthestudyofmatteranditsmotionthroughspaceandtime,alongwithrelatedconceptssuchasenergyandforce.Morebroadly,itisthegeneralanalysisofnature,conductedinordertounderstandhowtheuniversebehaves.
Physicsisoneoftheoldestacademicdisciplines,perhapstheoldestthroughitsinclusionofastronomy.Overthelasttwomillennia,physicswasapartofnaturalphilosophyalongwithchemistry,certainbranchesofmathematics,andbiology,butduringtheScientificRevolutioninthe17thcentury,thenaturalsciencesemergedasuniqueresearchprogramsintheirownright.Physicsintersectswithmanyinterdisciplinaryareasofresearch,suchasbiophysicsandquantumchemistry,andtheboundariesofphysicsarenotrigidlydefined.Newideasinphysicsoftenexplainthefundamentalmechanismsofothersciences,whileopeningnewavenuesofresearchinareassuchasmathematicsandphilosophy.
Physicsalsomakessignificantcontributionsthroughadvancesinnewtechnologiesthatarisefromtheoreticalbreakthroughs.Forexample,advancesintheunderstandingofelectromagnetismornuclearphysicsleddirectlytothedevelopmentofnewproductswhichhavedramaticallytransformedmodern-daysociety,suchastelevision,computers,domesticappliances,andnuclearweapons;advancesinthermodynamicsledtothedevelopmentofindustrialization;andadvancesinmechanicsinspiredthedevelopmentofcalculus.
Coretheories
Thoughphysicsdealswithawidevarietyofsystems,certaintheoriesareusedbyallphysicists.Eachofthesetheorieswereexperimentallytestednumeroustimesandfoundcorrectasanapproximationofnature(withinacertaindomainofvalidity).
Forinstance,thetheoryofclassicalmechanicsaccuratelydescribesthemotionofobjects,providedtheyaremuchlargerthanatomsandmovingatmuchlessthanthespeedoflight.Thesetheoriescontinuetobeareasofactiveresearch,andaremarkableaspectofclassicalmechanicsknownaschaoswasdiscoveredinthe20thcentury,threecenturiesaftertheoriginalformulationofclassicalmechanicsbyIsaacNewton(1642–1727)【艾萨克·牛顿】.
Thesecentraltheoriesareimportanttoolsforresearchintomorespecializedtopics,andanyphysicist,regardlessofhisorherspecialization,isexpectedtobeliterateinthem.Theseincludeclassicalmechanics,quantummechanics,thermodynamicsandstatisticalmechanics,electromagnetism,andspecialrelativity.
Classicalandmodernphysics
Classicalmechanics
Classicalphysicsincludesthetraditionalbranchesandtopicsthatwererecognizedandwell-developedbeforethebeginningofthe20thcentury—classicalmechanics,acoustics,optics,thermodynamics,andelectromagnetism.
Classicalmechanicsisconcernedwithbodiesactedonbyforcesandbodiesinmotionandmaybedividedintostatics(studyoftheforcesonabodyorbodiesatrest),kinematics(studyofmotionwithoutregardtoitscauses),anddynamics(studyofmotionandtheforcesthataffectit);mechanicsmayalsobedividedintosolidmechanicsandfluidmechanics(knowntogetherascontinuummechanics),thelatterincludingsuchbranchesashydrostatics,hydrodynamics,aerodynamics,andpneumatics.
Acousticsisthestudyofhowsoundisproduced,controlled,transmittedandreceived.Importantmodernbranchesofacousticsincludeultrasonics,thestudyofsoundwavesofveryhighfrequencybeyondtherangeofhumanhearing;bioacousticsthephysicsofanimalcallsandhearing,andelectroacoustics,themanipulationofaudiblesoundwavesusingelectronics.
Optics,thestudyoflight,isconcernednotonlywithvisiblelightbutalsowithinfraredandultravioletradiation,whichexhibitallofthephenomenaofvisiblelightexceptvisibility,e.g.,reflection,refraction,interference,diffraction,dispersion,andpolarizationoflight.
Heatisaformofenergy,theinternalenergypossessedbytheparticlesofwhichasubstanceiscomposed;thermodynamicsdealswiththerelationshipsbetweenheatandotherformsofenergy.
Electricityandmagnetismhavebeenstudiedasasinglebranchofphysicssincetheintimateconnectionbetweenthemwasdiscoveredintheearly19thcentury;anelectriccurrentgivesrisetoamagneticfieldandachangingmagneticfieldinducesanelectriccurrent.Electrostaticsdealswithelectricchargesatrest,electrodynamicswithmovingcharges,andmagnetostaticswithmagneticpolesatrest.
ModernPhysics
Classicalphysicsisgenerallyconcernedwithmatterandenergyonthenormalscaleofobservation,whilemuchofmodernphysicsisconcernedwiththebehaviorofmatterandenergyunderextremeconditionsorontheverylargeorverysmallscale.
Forexample,atomicandnuclearphysicsstudiesmatteronthesmallestscaleatwhichchemicalelementscanbeidentified.
Thephysicsofelementaryparticlesisonanevensmallerscale,asitisconcernedwiththemostbasicunitsofmatter;thisbranchofphysicsisalsoknownashigh-energyphysicsbecauseoftheextremelyhighenergiesnecessarytoproducemanytypesofparticlesinlargeparticleaccelerators.Onthisscale,ordinary,commonsensenotionsofspace,time,matter,andenergyarenolongervalid.
Thetwochieftheoriesofmodernphysicspresentadifferentpictureoftheconceptsofspace,time,andmatterfromthatpresentedbyclassicalphysics.
Quantumtheoryisconcernedwiththediscrete,ratherthancontinuous,natureofmanyphenomenaattheatomicandsubatomiclevel,andwiththecomplementaryaspectsofparticlesandwavesinthedescriptionofsuchphenomena.
Thetheoryofrelativityisconcernedwiththedescriptionofphenomenathattakeplaceinaframeofreferencethatisinmotionwithrespecttoanobserver;thespecialtheoryofrelativityisconcernedwithrelativeuniformmotioninastraightlineandthegeneraltheoryofrelativitywithacceleratedmotionanditsconnectionwithgravitation.
Bothquantumtheoryandthetheoryofrelativityfindapplicationsinallareasofmodernphysics.
Differencebetweenclassicalandmodernphysics
Whilephysicsaimstodiscoveruniversallaws,itstheorieslieinexplicitdomainsofapplicability.Looselyspeaking,thelawsofclassicalphysicsaccuratelydescribesystemswhoseimportantlengthscalesaregreaterthantheatomicscaleandwhosemotionsaremuchslowerthanthespeedoflight.Outsideofthisdomain,observationsdonotmatchtheirpredictions.
AlbertEinstein【阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦】contributedtheframeworkofspecialrelativity,whichreplacednotionsofabsolutetimeandspacewithspace-timeandallowedanaccuratedescriptionofsystemswhosecomponentshavespeedsapproachingthespeedoflight.
MaxPlanck【普朗克】,ErwinSchrödinger【薛定谔】,andothersintroducedquantummechanics,aprobabilisticnotionofparticlesandinteractionsthatallowedanaccuratedescriptionofatomicandsubatomicscales.
Later,quantumfieldtheoryunifiedquantummechanicsandspecialrelativity.
Generalrelativityallowedforadynamical,curvedspace-time,withwhichhighlymassivesystemsandthelarge-scalestructureoftheuniversecanbewell-described.Generalrelativityhasnotyetbeenunifiedwiththeotherfundamentaldescriptions;severalcandidatetheoriesofquantumgravityarebeingdeveloped.
Researchfields
Contemporaryresearchinphysicscanbebroadlydividedintocondensedmatterphysics;atomic,molecular,andopticalphysics;particlephysics;astrophysics;geophysicsandbiophysics.SomephysicsdepartmentsalsosupportresearchinPhysicseducation.
Sincethe20thcentury,theindividualfieldsofphysicshavebecomeincreasinglyspecialized,andtodaymostphysicistsworkinasinglefieldfortheirentirecareers."Universalists"suchasAlbertEinstein(1879–1955)andLevLandau(1908–1968)【列夫·朗道】,whoworkedinmultiplefieldsofphysics,arenowveryrare.
Condensedmatterphysics
Condensedmatterphysicsisthefieldofphysicsthatdealswiththemacroscopicphysicalpropertiesofmatter.Inparticular,itisconcernedwiththe"condensed"phasesthatappearwheneverthenumberofparticlesinasystemisextremelylargeandtheinteractionsbetweenthemarestrong.
Themostfamiliarexamplesofcondensedphasesaresolidsandliquids,whicharisefromthebondingbywayoftheelectromagneticforcebetweenatoms.Moreexoticcondensedphasesincludethesuper-fluidandtheBose–Einsteincondensatefoundincertainatomicsystemsatverylowtemperature,thesuperconductingphaseexhibitedbyconductionelectronsincertainmaterials,andtheferromagneticandantiferromagneticphasesofspinsonatomiclattices.
Condensedmatterphysicsisbyfarthelargestfieldofcontemporaryphysics.
Historically,condensedmatterphysicsgrewoutofsolid-statephysics,whichisnowconsideredoneofitsmainsubfields.ThetermcondensedmatterphysicswasapparentlycoinedbyPhilipAndersonwhenherenamedhisresearchgroup—previouslysolid-statetheory—in1967.In1978,theDivisionofSolidStatePhysicsoft