物理学专业英语.docx

物理学专业英语.docx

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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,theDivisionofSolidStatePhysicsoftheAmericanPhysicalS