PHY 741 Quantum Mechanics

MWF 11-11:50 AM OPL 107 http://www.wfu.edu/~natalie/f03phy741/

Instructor: Natalie Holzwarth Phone:758-5510Office:300 OPL e-mail:natalie@wfu.edu

General Information

This course is a the first of a two semester survey of Quantum Mechanics at the graduate level, using the textbook: Principles of Quantum Mechanic (Second edition) by R. Shankar (Plenum Press, 1994).

It is likely that your grade for the course will depend upon the following factors:

Problem sets*

45%

Computational project

10%

Exams

45%

*In general, there will a new assignment after each lecture, so that for optimal learning, it would be best to complete each assignment before the the next scheduled lecture. According to the honor system, all work submitted for grading purposes should represent the student's own best efforts.

Course schedule

(Preliminary schedule -- subject to frequent adjustment.)
DateReadingTopicAssignment
Wed, 8/27/03Chap. 1Vector space formalism HW 1
Fri, 8/29/03Chap. 1Linear operators HW 2
Mon, 9/1/03Chap. 1Introduction to Maple HW 3
Wed, 9/3/03Chap. 2-4
Fri, 9/5/03Chap. 4Commutators HW 4
Mon, 9/8/03Chap. 4Schrödinger Equation HW 5
Wed, 9/10/03Chap. 5One dimensional examples HW 6
Fri, 9/12/03Chap. 5Scattering in one dimension HW 7
Mon, 9/15/03Chap. 5Scattering in on dimension
Wed, 9/17/03Chap. 7The harmonic oscillator HW 8
Fri, 9/19/03Chap. 7The harmonic oscillator HW 9
Mon, 9/22/03Numerical methods for solving Schrödinger Equation HW 10
Wed, 9/24/03Chap. 8Path integrals
Fri, 9/26/03Chap. 8Path integrals HW 11
Mon, 9/29/03Chap. 8Path integrals
Wed, 10/1/03Chap. 10Multidimensional Schrödinger Equation
Fri, 10/3/03Chap. 10Bosons & Fermions
Mon, 10/6/03Chap. 12Angular Momentum
Wed, 10/8/03Chap. 12Angular Momentum HW 12
Fri, 10/10/03Chap. 12Angular Momentum HW 13
Mon, 10/13/03Chap. 12Rotations of angular momentum HW 14
Wed, 10/15/03Chap. 12Rotationally invariant problems
Fri, 10/17/03(Fall break)
Mon, 10/20/03Chap. 12Rotationally invariant problems HW 15
Wed, 10/22/03Chap. 13No class
Fri, 10/24/03Chap. 14Hydrogen atom & spin HW 16
Mon, 10/27/03Chap. 14Spin HW 17
Wed, 10/29/03Chap. 14Spin HW 18
Fri, 10/31/03Chap. 15Addition of Angular Momentum
Mon, 11/3/03Chap. 15Addition of Angular Momentum HW 19
Wed, 11/5/03Chap. 15Addition of Angular Momentum
Fri, 11/7/03Chap. 16Variational methods HW 20
Mon, 11/10/03Chap. 16Variational methods
Wed, 11/12/03Chap. 17Time-independent perturbation theory
Fri, 11/14/03Chap. 17 Time-independent perturbation theory
Mon, 11/17/03Chap. 17Time-independent perturbation theory
Wed, 11/19/03Chap. 18Time-dependent perturbation theory HW 21
Fri, 11/21/03Chap. 18 Time-dependent perturbation theory HW 22
Mon, 11/24/03Chap. 19Scattering theory HW 23
Wed, 11/26/03Thanksgiving holiday
Fri, 11/28/03Thanksgiving holiday
Mon, 12/1/03Chap. 19Scattering theory
Wed, 12/3/03Presentations
Fri, 12/5/03Presentations
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Last modfied: Monday, 24-Nov-2003 14:22:31 EST