Physics Video and Audio Lectures

Physics Lectures from Princeton University

Pricenton University has a huge collection of video lectures in physics, maths, economics, politics. Lectures from Pricenton University.

• Matchsticks, Scramjets, and Black Holes: Numerical Simulation Faces Reality
  (Elaine Oran, Senior Scientist for Reactive Flow Physics, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

• The Search for a Theory of Fundamental Reality: I. The Theory of Elementary Particles
• The Search for a Theory of Fundamental Reality: II. Questions and Speculation
• The Search for a Theory of Fundamental Reality: III. The Coming Revolutions
  (David Gross, Professor, UC Santa Barbara)

• 30th Hamilton Lecture: The Future of Physics
  (David J. Gross, Kavli Institute For Theoretical Physics, UCSB)

• Einstein's Biggest Blunder? The Case for Cosmic 'Antigravity'
  (Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley)

• Enigmatic Gamma-Ray Bursts: Birth Cries of Black Holes
  (Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley)

• Catastrophic Stellar Explosions: Celestial Fireworks
  (Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley)
  

• Fashion, Faith and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe, Lecture 1: FASHION
• Fashion, Faith and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe, Lecture 2: FAITH
• Fashion, Faith and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe, Lecture 3: FANTASY
  (Roger Penrose, Oxford University)

• The energy problem: our current choices and future hopes
  (Steven Chu, Director of Lawrence Berkeley Labs)

• Gravity, Black Holes, and Strings
  (Juan M. Maldacena)

• Quest For Unification
  (Edward Witten)

• The Disappearance of Anti-matter Following the Big Bang
  (Stewart Smith, Princeton University)

• Einstein's Biggest Blunder: A Cosmic Mystery Story
  (Lawrence M. Krauss)

• Telling Stories about the Universe
  (Vera Rubin, Carnegie Institution of Washington)

Lectures on Quantum Computation by David Deutsch

• Lecture I - The QuBit
  Introducing quantum theory, the quantum theory of computation, physical systems, observations, and the simplest quantum physical system, the qubit.
  
  
• Lecture II - Interference
  Performing and analysing a single-photon interference experiment.
  


• Lecture III - Measurement
  How to analyse pairs of interacting quantum systems.
  


• Lecture IV - The Schroedinger Picture
  Introducing the Schroedinger Picture, density matrices, state vectors, pure states and the Schroedinger equation.
  


• Lecture V - A Quantum Algorithm
  The Deutsch Algorithm and how it works.
  


• Lecture V - Grover's Search Algorithm
  How to use quantum computation to search through N possibilities in a time proportional to the square root of N.
  

Personal and Historical Perspectives of Hans Bethe

IN 1999, legendary theoretical physicist Hans Bethe delivered three lectures on quantum theory to his neighbors at the Kendal of Ithaca retirement community (near Cornell University). Given by Professor Bethe at age 93, the lectures are presented here as QuickTime videos synchronized with slides of his talking points and archival material.

• Introduction (Large Video / Small Video / Audio Only)
  
• Lecture I (Large Video / Small Video / Audio Only)
• Lecture II (Large Video / Small Video / Audio Only)
• Lecture III (Large Video / Small Video / Audio Only)
• Appreciation (Large Video / Small Video / Audio Only)

Website of these lecture

Intended for an audience of Professor Bethe's neighbors at Kendal, the lectures hold appeal for experts and non-experts alike. The presentation makes use of limited mathematics while focusing on the personal and historical perspectives of one of the principal architects of quantum theory whose career in physics spans 75 years.

A video introduction and appreciation are provided by Professor Silvan S. Schweber, the physicist and science historian who is Professor Bethe's biographer, and Edwin E. Salpeter, the J. G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Science Emeritus at Cornell, who was a post-doctoral student of Professor Bethe.

The Elegant Universe

This video series contains three parts each one hour long.
Here is the link to all the video lectures of The Elegant Universe.

• Part 1: Einsteins Dream
  
  • A Theory of Everything?
  • Newton's Embarassing Secret
  • A New Picture of Gravity
  • A Strange New World
  • The Quantum Cafe
  • Gravity - The Odd Man Out
  • Strings to the Rescue
  • Science of Philosophy


• Part 2: String's The Thing
  
  • Two Conflicting Sets of Laws
  • One Master Equation
  • The Birth of String Theory
  • The Standard Model
  • Wrestling with String Theory
  • The Theory of Everything
  • Multiple Dimensions
  • Five Flavors of String Theory


• Part 3: Welcome to the 11th Dimension
  
  • The Wild West of Physics
  • The Potential of Strings
  • Getting to One Theory
  • Parallel Universes
  • Escaping Gravity
  • Riddle of the Big Bang
  • Signs of Strings
  • Too Elegant to be Wrong

On the website of The Elegant Universe you can find much more interesting stuff like interviews with the people in videos and interactive animations of the strings.

If you liked the series you can by Book, DVD or a VHS here:

Black holes, Wormholes and Time Travel

• Lecture by Paul Davies (Imperial University)

The idea of time travel makes great science fiction, but can it really be achieved? Paul Davies, Visiting Professor of Physics at Imperial College, describes wormholes in space and other ways that might allow travel into the past or future.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Life in Space

• Lecture by Helen Sharman

Helen Sharman, the UK's first astronaut, gives a vibrant account of her personal experience of life in space using models and film to illustrate the key scientific concepts involved in spaceflight.

Among other things she discusses the way Newton's Third Law and convection apply to space flight, weightlessness and survival. She answers numerous questions from an audience of young school children (9-12 yrs).

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


States of Matter

• Lecture by John Murrell (University of Sussex)

John Murrell discusses the basic physical principles relating to the gaseous, liquid and solid states with the aid of models and demonstrations. Attention is drawn to phase changes and subtle features involving intermediate phases such as liquid crystals, supercritical fluids and pseudosolids. These aspects are developed further in interactive discussions.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.

The Chemistry of Interstellar Space

• Lecture by William Klemperer (Harward University)

Radioastronomical observations of our galaxy have revealed hordes of molecules in the interstellar medium. Extremely fast reactions result in the high abundance of complex organic compounds in the space between the stars. Amazingly, the key to all this is the chemistry of the helium ion!

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Radioastronomical observation of the galaxy has revealed a broad distribution of molecular species within the cool, low density regions between stars. Since it is only possible to observe polar molecular forms through their rotational motions, our direct knowledge of abundances of the molecular components is somewhat limited. To gain a deeper insight into the likely molecular composition of the interstellar medium, models of chemical synthesis appropriate for the cold, low density conditions are required.

Consideration of observed species shows clearly that equilibrium thermodynamic constraints are inappropriate, since in some instances high energy isomeric forms of species are quite abundant. Furthermore quite specific forms of relatively large polyatomic species are observed. In particular, the larger organic species are very unsaturated rather than saturated, as might be expected from the fact that hydrogen is by far the most abundant interstallar molecular species. The modelling of the kinetics of specific condensation from an atomic initial condition is representative of a problem of general occurance. The chemistry of the interstellar medium illustrates that complex synthesis occurs under totally abiotic conditions. The specific reactions that occur in the dark polyatomic interstellar regions are discussed in terms of cosmic ray induced primary ionisation followed by specific secondary ion molecule reactions. We show that the high abundance of complex carbon compounds is due to the chemistry of the helium ions.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Electron Waves Unveil the Microcosmos

• Lecture by Akira Tonomura
  

Since the time of Faraday lines of force in space have been "observed" by sprinkling iron filings around magnet. The lecturer explains how, with modern techniques we can "see" lines of force inside a solid magnet. The studies reveal a fascinating dynamic world in which lines of force form vortices (quantised bundles) that hop and swirl inside a superconductor (much like tornadoes do in the atmosphere).

You can use a microscope to see the cell structure of a leaf. Optical microscopes employ waves of visible light. To see smaller objects such as viruses and irregularities in the atomic arrangement of crystals, however, you have to use electron waves. Why? Because wavelengths of visible light are too large to probe such small sizes. Are electrons waves? Yes, they can behave like waves, which are trains of crests and troughs just like the ripples on the surface of water. Using the electron microscope, we can see the crest height and the trough depth of the electron waves after they are disturbed from passing by the objects being examined. However, there are some objects that do not affect the height or depth of the waves, but pull back (or push forward) the crests and troughs. This can be observed by superposing two waves, one pulled back and the other unaffected, and letting them interfere. The electron waves will interfere constructively if the crests overlap, and destructively if the crests meet the troughs. This is the principle of holography, which the lecturer explains in detail during the discourse. Then, you will be able to understand the fascinating sceneries in the microcosmos that electron holography has unveiled, such as the quantised bundles of magnetic lines of force in a superconductor, and how they dance and hop!

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Tick, Tick Pulsating Star: How we wonder what you are

• Lecture by Jocelyn Bell Burnell (Open University)

The discovery of pulsars, neutron stars which form when massive stars explode (supernovae), took astronomers by surprise. Their discovery is described and the way in which these bizarre objects have led to an understanding of matter under extreme conditions.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Nanotubes: The Materials of the 21st Century

• Lecture by Sumio Iijima

Carbon nanotubes, some 1000 times smaller than conventional carbon fibers, have tensile strengths 100x that of steel and conduct electricity like metals. They promise a revolution in structural and electrical engineering.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Science and Fine Art

• Lecture by David Bomford

There is a long tradition of applying scientific techniques to the study of works of art. The discourse reviews past and present approaches and shows that these advances have not only illuminated art history but also revolutionised our conservation techniques, ensuring the survival of works of art for the future.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


Electricity, Magnetism and the Body

• Lecture by Anthony Barker (Sussex University)

The controlled ways that electricity and magnetism can stimulate the body are demonstrated and how the resulting responses can aid diagnosis discussed.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


How X-rays cracked the structure of DNA

• Lecture by Amand Lucas (University of Namur)

An elegantly simple optical diffraction demonstration with an inexpensive laser pointer is used to show the way in which x-rays can reveal the structure of crystals, and in particular, the double helix structure of DNA.

Provided by The Vega Science Trust.


How to Make Teaching Come Alive

• Lecture by Walter Lewin (MIT)
• Website

The Council on Primary and Secondary Education 2002 summer program hosted 70 pre-college teachers at MIT to attend MIT Physics Professor Walter Lewin's inspired talk about physics. The teachers came from 15 US states and seven countries including Argentina, Austria, Hong Kong, Israel, Lebanon, Norway, and West Indies.

This lecture has been described as one that can make you "see" a rainbow in ways you have never seen it before, and provides answers to questions like "why is the sky blue"?.

During the live lecture, many of the colors discussed were visible as described. However since this lecture was video taped and then compressed in order to create video streams, many of the colors did not survive the compression process. In the lecture hall, viewers did indeed see all of the colors of the rainbow, however once the video is streamed, you will see mostly red and blue. At 14:02, during the rotating disc demonstration, the black and white lines appear brown on the inside and dark blue on the outside, and when reversed, appear dark blue on the inside and brown on the outside. Professor Lewin is introduced by Professor Ron Latanision, Chairman of the Council on Primary and Secondary Education, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Nuclear Engineering at MIT.



Polarization: Light Waves, Rainbows, and Cheap Sunglasses

• Lecture by Walter Lewin (MIT)
• Website

In this lecture taped before a live audience of elementary and middle school students and their families, MIT Physics Professor Walter Lewin explains polarization, and demonstrates properties of light in rainbows, smoke and the sky. He answers the perennial question, "why is the sky blue?" and creates a red sunset in the laboratory.

NOTES ON THE VIDEO (Time Index):
Demonstrations:
Polarization: 35:20
Rainbows: 59:38
Blue Smoke: 1:09:30
Red Sunset: 1:22:13


The Birth and Death of Stars

• Lecture by Walter Lewin (MIT)
• Website

We know that some stars exist because we can see them with our own eyes. In this lecture Walter Lewin provides illuminating evidence of stars we cannot see. He describes the birth of stars, in the arms of a nebula, to their explosive or implosive ends. There are super hot white dwarves, detectible only by measuring the shift in color as light leaves them. As some massive stars age, they collapse into incredibly dense neutron stars—1000 times smaller than white dwarves—that release more x-rays than light. One teaspoon of neutron star matter would weight 500 million tons. Lewin champions Jocelyn Bell, who discovered evidence for these stars in 1967 but was overlooked for the Nobel Prize. When Bell’s radio telescope picked up mysterious signals pulsing every 1.3 seconds, her lab described the phenomenon as “little green men,” at first unsure if these might be signs of intelligent alien life. In his ringing finale, Lewin pulls out a tuning fork to demonstrate the Doppler Effect, where the pitch of a sound changes as it moves. Astronomers measured an analogous Doppler shift in star light to prove the existence of black holes.


The Sounds of Music

• Lecture by Walter Lewin (MIT)
• Website

Have you ever wondered about the annoying hum your car makes at a certain speed on a particular stretch of highway? Or why a flute’s notes are higher than a trombone’s? Walter Lewin uses rubber hose, wooden boxes with holes, metal plates and an assortment of other home-made instruments to demonstrate how objects produce sound. It all boils down to how something vibrates -- pushing air out in all directions.

Lewin illustrates the shape of sounds, taking a rope tethered at one end, shaking it up and down at different speeds and producing specific wave shapes. These shapes are the rope’s resonant frequencies, or harmonics. It’s the same for a bowed violin, where the oscillations of the strings generate a set of harmonics, producing the notes we hear -- the faster the oscillations, the higher the tones. Lewin invites children from the audience to produce sounds with their musical instruments, and shows the amplitude and frequency of the tones. Later he demonstrates destructive resonances: video of a bridge that twists so violently that it collapses, and then, live in the laboratory, the shattering of a wine glass with progressively louder and higher tones. In this event where physics meets performance art, Lewin provides surprises throughout.

Two minute video capture of the most famous physicists at Solvay Conference (1927):
(Ervin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, Max Born, Wolfgang Pauli, Louis de Broglie, Marie Curie, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein and others)

• Video fragment in Flash format
• Video fragment in RealPlayer format
• Photo of all the participants of Solvay Conference
  

This is something great! Two minutes of the most famous physicists. See them alive!
Devote two minutes of your time to watch this!

Twenty-nine physicists, the main quantum theorists of the day, came together to discuss the topic “Electrons and Photons”. Seventeen of the 29 attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners.

Following is a “home movie” shot by Irving Langmuir, (the 1932 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry). It captures 2 minutes of an intermission in the proceedings. Twenty-one of the 29 attendees are on the film. The film opens with quick shots of Erwin Schrödinger and Niels Bohr. Auguste Piccard of the University of Brussels follows and then the camera re-focuses on Schrödinger and Bohr.

Two minute excerpt from Richard P. Feynman's Lecture on why the nature is symmetric

• Audio fragment at YouTube

Richard Feynman, towards the end of a Caltech lecture to undergraduates on symmetry in physical laws, discusses Nature's near-symmetry (as in parity non-conservation) and the Yomeimon in Nikko, Japan. Illustrated after the fact with still images of the Yomeimon. Of the four pillars at the front of the gate, the pillar with the inverted motif (sakakibashira) is the third from the left, as shown.

The Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures by Richard P. Feynman

• Lecture 1: Photons - Corpuscles of Light
  A gentle lead-in to the subject, Feynman starts by discussing photons and their properties.
  Provided by The Vega Science Trust.
  
  
• Lecture 2: Fits of Reflection and Transmission - Quantum Behaviour
  What are reflection and transmission, and how do they work?
  Provided by The Vega Science Trust.
  
  
• Lecture 3: Electrons and their Interaction
  Feynman diagrams and the intricacies of particle interaction
  Provided by The Vega Science Trust.
  
  
• Lecture 4: New Queries
  What does it mean and where is it all leading?
  Provided by The Vega Science Trust.
  
  
• Website
  

A set of four priceless archival recordings from the University of Auckland (New Zealand) of the outstanding Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman - arguably the greatest science lecturer ever. Although the recording is of modest technical quality the exceptional personal style and unique delivery shine through.

Feynman gives us not just a lesson in basic physics but also a deep insight into the scientific mind of a 20th century genius analyzing the approach of the 17th century genius Newton.

For the young scientist, brought up in this age of hi-tech PC / Power Point-based presentations, we also get an object lesson in how to give a lecture with nothing other than a piece of chalk and a blackboard. Furthermore we are shown how to respond with wit and panache to the technical mishaps that are part-and-parcel of the lecturer's life.

Pleasure of Finding Things Out

• Video interview at Google Video

Amazingly great video lecture! This is pure Richard Feynman. I have watched it 4 times during last two years. Each time watching it I always find something new I had not noticed before!

Exploring Black Holes: General Relativity and Astrophysics.

• Video Lectures: 8.224 (videos under Course Notes)
• Course website

Study of physical effects in the vicinity of a black hole as a basis for understanding general relativity, astrophysics, and elements of cosmology. Extension to current developments in theory and observation. Energy and momentum in flat spacetime; the metric; curvature of spacetime near rotating and nonrotating centers of attraction; trajectories and orbits of particles and light; elementary models of the Cosmos. Weekly meetings include an evening seminar and recitation. The last third of the semester is reserved for collaborative research projects on topics such as the Global Positioning System, solar system tests of relativity, descending into a black hole, gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, Gravity Probe B, and more advanced models of the Cosmos.

Elementary College Physics

• Video Lectures (University of North Carolina Wilmington)
• Course homepage
  

These are videos taken of introductory physics course, which was taught in the summer of 2005 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
This course covers basically the same material as MIT's 8.01 physics course.

The Wonders of Physics

• Video Lectures (University of Wisconsin)

Never has there been a time when an understanding of science has been more important to the well-being of individuals and to the nation than the present. Yet many recent studies have documented a lack of interest in science and hence a decline in science literacy in the United States. To address this problem, the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1984 began a program called The Wonders of Physics aimed at generating interest in physics among people of all ages and backgrounds. The heart of the program is a fast-paced presentation of physics demonstrations carefully chosen to be entertaining as well as educational.

The Mechanical Universe and Beyond

• Video Lectures (University of California, 1985) (requires registration)
  

This series helps teachers demystify physics by showing students what it looks like. Field trips to hot-air balloon events, symphony concerts, bicycle shops, and other locales make complex concepts more accessible. Inventive computer graphics illustrate abstract concepts such as time, force, and capacitance, while historical reenactments of the studies of Newton, Leibniz, Maxwell, and others trace the evolution of theories. The Mechanical Universe helps meet different students' needs, from the basic requirements of liberal arts students to the rigorous demands of science and engineering majors. This series is also valuable for teacher professional development.

How Things Work

• Video lectures: Physics 105 (University of Virginia)
• Course homepage
  

For non-science majors: a practical introduction to physics and science in everyday life. This course considers objects from our daily environment and focuses on their principles of operation, histories, and relationships to one another. The emphasis for Physics 105 is on mechanical and thermal objects.

The course covers laws of motion, fluids, fluids and motion, heat and thermodynamics, phase transitions and resonance and mechanical waves.

Symmetry, Structure, and Tensor Properties of Materials

• 3.60 (link to video lectures) (MIT)
• Course website
  

This course covers the derivation of symmetry theory; lattices, point groups, space groups, and their properties; use of symmetry in tensor representation of crystal properties, including anisotropy and representation surfaces; and applications to piezoelectricity and elasticity.

Vibrations and Waves:

• Physics 8.03 (MIT)
• Course website
  

In addition to the traditional topics of mechanical vibrations and waves, coupled oscillators, and electro-magnetic radiation, students will also learn about musical instruments, red sunsets, glories, coronae, rainbows, haloes, X-ray binaries, neutron stars, black holes and big-bang cosmology.

Electricity and Magnetism:

• Physics 8.02 (MIT)
• Course website
  

In addition to the basic concepts of Electromagnetism, a vast variety of interesting topics are covered in this course: Lightning, Pacemakers, Electric Shock Treatment, Electrocardiograms, Metal Detectors, Musical Instruments, Magnetic Levitation, Bullet Trains, Electric Motors, Radios, TV, Car Coils, Superconductivity, Aurora Borealis, Rainbows, Radio Telescopes, Interferometers, Particle Accelerators (a.k.a. Atom Smashers or Colliders), Mass Spectrometers, Red Sunsets, Blue Skies, Haloes around Sun and Moon, Color Perception, Doppler Effect, Big-Bang Cosmology.

Introductory Physics

• Physics 8A 001 (audio only)
• Physics 8A 002 (audio only)
  

Introduction to forces, kinetics, equilibria, fluids, waves, and heat. This course presents concepts and methodologies for understanding physical phenomena, and is particularly useful preparation for upper division study in biology and architecture.

Classical Mechanics:

• Physics 8.01 (MIT)
• Course website
  

In addition to the basic concepts of Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory, a variety of interesting topics are covered in this course: Binary Stars, Neutron Stars, Black Holes, Resonance Phenomena, Musical Instruments, Stellar Collapse, Supernovae, Astronomical observations from very high flying balloons (lecture #35), and you will be allowed a peek into the intriguing Quantum World.

Descriptive introduction to physics:

• Physics for Future Presidents (Berkeley)
• Course website
  

No prior physics is required. Moreover, even if you are a physics major, you will find that most of the material is new. Physics majors spend so much time learning the math and to abstract calculations that they often do not get to the important results. This course is now open for physics majors too, in fact, is is an excellent supplement for your other physics courses.