Physics 417: Intermediate Quantum
Fall 2013

Instructor: Prof. David Shih

Primary textbook:
Griffiths "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (Second Edition)"

Supplementary textbooks:
Liboff "Introductory Quantum Mechanics"
Sakurai "Modern Quantum Mechanics"

Here is an Mathematica notebook showing the time evolution of a free particle initially localized in an interval.

Here is an Mathematica notebook showing the solution problem 4.2 (time evolution of Gaussian wavepackets).

Here is an Mathematica notebook showing the calculation of the tunneling probability for a rectangular barrier. You might find it useful for solving problem 5.4.

Syllabus

This syllabus may be modified as the semester progresses.

Date	General concept	Topics	Text	Assignment
9/4 9/9	Invitation to QM	Blackbody radiation Bohr atom Stern-Gerlach experiment		Problem Set 1
9/11 9/16 9/18 9/23 9/25 9/30	Fundamental Concepts	Position, Momentum, Energy Operators and states Dirac's bra/ket notation Hilbert space Measurements and probability Uncertainty Principle Wavefunctions Time evolution Schrodinger equation	Ch. 3	Problem Set 2 Problem Set 3
10/2 10/7 10/9	Examples of the Schrodinger Equation	Particle in an infinite well Free particle Harmonic oscillator Particle in a finite well Rectangular barrier and tunneling WKB approximation	Ch. 2 Ch. 8	Problem Set 4 Problem Set 5
10/16 10/21 10/23	Quantum Mechanics in 3D	Schrodinger equation in 3D Angular Momentum Hydrogen atom -- part I	Ch. 4.1-4.3	Problem Set 6 Problem Set 7
10/28	MIDTERM
10/30 11/4 11/6	Quantum Mechanics in 3D cont'd	Spin Angular momentum addition Clebsch-Gordan coefficients	Ch. 4.4; Sakurai 3.1-3.3, 3.5-3.7	Problem Set 8
11/11 11/13 11/18 11/20	Time independent perturbation theory and Hydrogen part II	first order second order nondegenerate second order degenerate fine structure Zeeman effect Hyperfine structure	Ch. 6	Problem Set 9 Problem Set 10
11/25	Identical Particles	Bosons and fermions Helium	Ch. 5
11/27	THANKSGIVING
12/2 12/4	Identical Particles cont'd	Atoms Periodic Table Free electron gas Chandrasekhar limit	Ch. 5	Problem Set 11 Problem Set 11 Solutions
12/9 12/11	WKB approximation	Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization Tunneling Spontaneous symmetry breaking The Path Integral	Ch. 8