Lectures
Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30-11:00, P&A Room 184.
Textbook
We will not be following any text directly. Copies of
the lecture note will be available in the web. The are
many good texts and I recommend you to pick the one(s)
that work best for you. Relevant material from the
following recommended texts with be referenced
throughout the course.
Recommended texts
Quantum
Mechanics, vol I and II by C. Cohen-Tannoudji,
B. Diu, and F. Laloė.
Modern
Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai.
Quantum
Mechanics by E. Merzbacher.
Other texts
Quantum
Mechanics, vol I and II by A. Messiah.
Quantum
Mechanics by L. I. Schiff.
Quantum
Mechanics, vol I by K. Gottfried.
Office hours
Instructor
Mondays 3.30-4.30, Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-12:00,
or by appointment.
Teaching assistant
The teaching assistant is Anirban Chowdhury (anchowdhury@unm.edu).
He will be available on Wednesday from 10.00 to
11.30, or by appointment, in room 30 of the P&A
building.
Grading
The grading in the course will be
based on your performance in homework assignments, one
midterm exam, and one final exam. The contribution to
the final grade is as follows:
- Homework: the best (n-1) scores of the n
assignments will represent the 30% of the final
grade.
- Midterm exam: it will represent the 35% of the
final grade.
- Final exam: it will represent the remaining 35%
of the final grade.
The midterm exam is tentatively
scheduled for October 10, during class time, and the
final exam will be held on December XXX.
Homework assignments
There will be around 10 assignments during the
semester each with 4-6 problems apiece. The
assignments will be given throughout the semester
and will be posted in the tentative schedule
about 7-10 before they are due. Late homework
policy: homework returned in the next
24 hours after the due
dat will be accepted but with 50% penalization.
After that no homework will be accepted and the corresponding
solutions will be posted here.
I encourage
students to study together and learn from each
other. However, all homework must be created in
its entirety by each student. Evidence of copied
homework will result in all involved students
being dropped from the class.
Problems class
Listed officially as Phyc 551 (Mondays: 2:00 -
3:00 pm, Room 184). This is a very important
adjunct to the main lecture class. It will provide
you additional practice with solving problems
beyond the homework assignments and self study.
Furthermore, the class will also give you a
valuable opportunity to bring to my attention your
difficulties with any concepts covered in the
lecture class so I can address them in a group
setting. The problem sheets would be posted here the Friday before
the problem class. The corresponding solutions
will be posted after the class. You will receive
credit for the problems class as long as you
register and show up for more than 10 sessions.
Syllabus topics
You can find the calendar for the course in the tentative schedule.
Date
|
Subject |
Homework |
HW Due
|
Solutions |
08/22
(Tu) |
No class
|
|
|
|
08/24 (Th)
|
Introduction
of the basic concepts of quantum mechanics.
|
|
|
|
08/29 (Tu) |
Mathematical
foundations: linear algebra, Dirac notation.
|
HW1
|
09/12/17
|
HW1
|
08/31 (Th)
|
Mathematical foundations: operators,
adjoints, change of basis, unitarity.
|
|
|
|
09/05
(Tu)
|
no
class
|
|
|
|
09/07 (Th) |
no class
|
|
|
|
09/12 (Tu)
|
Mathematical
foundations: eigenvalues,
eigenvectors, commutators. |
HW2
|
09/19/17
|
HW2
|
09/14 (Th)
|
Structure
of quantum mechanics: states and
observables. |
|
|
|
09/15 (F)
at 12.45 in room 5
|
Structure
of quantum mechanics: measurements.
Stern-Gerlach
experiment simulator.
|
|
|
|
09/19 (Tu) |
Density operator:
pure vs. mixed states. |
HW3
|
09/26/17
|
HW3
|
09/21 (Th) |
Unitary reversible
evolution vs. irreversible stochastic
evolution. |
|
|
|
09/22 (F)
at 12.45 in room 5 |
Quantum dynamics:
time evolution operator, conservation, and
symmetries. |
|
|
|
09/26
(Tu) |
Quantum dynamics 2: Schrödinger
picture vs
Heisenberg picture.
|
HW4 |
10/03/17
|
HW4
|
09/28 (Th)
10/03 (Tu)
|
Particle
mechanics.
|
|
|
|
10/05
(Th) |
Wave
mechanics. |
|
|
|
10/10 (Tu) |
Midterm.
Midterm solution.
|
|
|
|
10/12 (Th) |
Fall break |
|
|
|
10/17
(Tu) |
Path
integrals
Time independent Schrödinger
equation: free particle, scattering
states, constant potentials. |
HW5
|
10/26/17
|
HW5
|
10/19 (Th)
|
Time independent
Schrödinger equation: parity, bound
states. |
|
|
|
10/24 (Tu) |
Simple
harmonic oscillator (SHO): review
classical problem, creation/annihilation
operators, eigenstates.
|
|
|
|
10/26 (Th) |
Simple
harmonic oscillator (SHO): x-p space,
uncertainty
relations, position/momentum,
number/phase. |
HW6
|
11/02/17
|
HW6
|
10/31
(Tu) |
Simple
harmonic oscillator (SHO): coherent
States, phase space, and the classical
liimit. |
|
|
|
11/02 (Th) |
Multiple degrees of
freedom 1. |
HW7
|
11/14/17
|
HW7
|
11/07 (Tu) |
Multiple
degrees of freedom 2.
|
|
|
|
11/09 (Th) |
Solving the Schrödinger equation
with multiple degrees of freedom |
|
|
|
11/14 (Tu) |
Angular
momentum algebra.
|
HW8
|
11/28/17
|
HW8
|
11/16 (Th)
at 8.30
|
Oribtal angular momentum and
spherical harmonics. |
|
|
|
11/21 (Tu) |
Central
potentials and the radial equation.
|
|
|
|
11/23 (Th) |
Thanksgiving
|
|
|
|
11/28 (Tu) |
No
class
|
HW9
|
12/07/17
|
HW9
|
11/30 (Th) |
Radial
equation continued: partial waves. |
|
|
|
12/01 (F)
at 12:45 in room 5
|
Radial equation
continued: spherical
wells. |
|
|
|
12/05
(Tu) |
Spin-1/2: Pauli algebra.
|
|
|
|
12/07 (Th) |
Questions and doubts. Casimir
effect.
|
|
|
|
12/12 (Tu)
|
Final exam
|
|
|
|
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