MIT Subject Evaluations

8.421 - Atomic and Optical Physics I
Fall Term 1998 Summary

Lecturer: Professor Wolfgang Ketterle

Enrollment: 24
Number of students responding: 10

8.421 is the first of a two semester subject sequence that covers the contemporary research in atomic and optical physics.

The subject content of 8.421 was described as pertinent and interesting. There was a general good feeling about the selection of lecture topics, although one student felt that more time should have been spent on molecules, superradience and light scattering. Another student felt the subject was too "Hand Wavy." There were few proofs presented, and students had to take much of the course material on faith.

Most respondents suggested that 8.421 needed a new set of lecture notes and a more unified text. Students were dismayed when conventions and nomenclature shifted between handouts. One other respondent warned that the subject does sometimes meet on Fridays when most students thought it was a Monday - Wednesday class when they registered. Despite these problems, most people agreed that 8.421 was a useful and enjoyable course.

Almost all students rated Professor Ketterle's teaching style as very good or excellent. Respondents felt that Professor Ketterle gave coherent, lucid lectures, and that he clearly enjoyed teaching the course. One student suggested that Professor Ketterle tended to skim over the basics, and that the pace of lecture needed to be slowed down. There were few other complaints.