Undergraduate Physics Lecture Notes

Author

Sandro Vitenti

Welcome to Undergraduate Physics Lecture Notes

This website hosts lecture notes for undergraduate physics courses taught by Sandro Vitenti. These notes are designed to support students in understanding key concepts in physics through clear explanations, mathematical rigor, and practical examples. The content is open source, and contributions from the community are encouraged.

Available Courses

Explore the following courses, each with notes and exercises:

  • Vector Calculus: Covers vector spaces, inner products, vector products, and triple products, with applications to physics.
  • Special Relativity: Introduces the principles of special relativity, including Lorentz transformations, spacetime, and relativistic kinematics.

About the Project

These notes are developed as an open-source project to provide accessible, high-quality resources for physics students. The content is hosted on GitHub, where you can:

  • Access the source files (written in Quarto).
  • Report errors or ask questions.
  • Suggest improvements or new topics.
  • Contribute directly by submitting pull requests.

The notes are released under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, allowing non-commercial use, remixing, and distribution with attribution to the original author by linking back to this site.

How to Contribute

We welcome feedback, questions, and contributions from students, educators, and physics enthusiasts. Whether you spot a typo, have a question, or want to add a new section, you can get involved through our GitHub repository. Below are quick tips to get started.

Creating a GitHub Issue

If you find an error, have a question, or want to suggest an improvement, create a GitHub issue:

  1. Go to the Repository: Visit github.com/vitenti-physics/undergrad.
  2. Navigate to Issues: Click the “Issues” tab near the top of the page.
  3. Create a New Issue: Click the green “New issue” button.
  4. Fill in Details:
    • Title: Write a clear, concise title (e.g., “Typo in Vector Product Equation”).
    • Description: Provide details, such as the section (e.g., Vector Product), the issue, and any suggestions. For questions, include context (e.g., “I don’t understand why the Levi-Civita symbol is antisymmetric”).
    • Labels (optional): Add labels like “bug,” “question,” or “enhancement” if prompted.
  5. Submit: Click “Submit new issue” to post it. You’ll be notified of responses.

Suggesting Improvements or Contributing Content

To propose changes (e.g., fixing equations, adding examples), you can submit a pull request:

  1. Fork the Repository: On the GitHub repo, click “Fork” to create a copy under your account.
  2. Clone Your Fork: Download your fork to your computer using:
   git clone https://github.com/your-username/undergrad.git
  1. Edit Files: Modify the Quarto files (e.g., vector_calculus.qmd) using a text editor.
  2. Commit Changes: Save your changes and commit:
    git add .
    git commit -m "Fix typo in vector product section"

    Push to GitHub: Upload your changes:
    bash

    git push origin main
  1. Create a Pull Request: Go to your fork on GitHub, click “Contribute,” and select “Open pull request.”
    • Describe your changes and submit.