Quantum Mechanics-I, Physics 811 (Wysin)
Kansas State University, Spring 2003.
Office Hours:
Wednesday, 2:30 -- 4:30, Tuesday, Thursday, 3:30 -- 4:30, CW 309.
The course is intended for graduate students in physics who have
already had an introductory course in Modern Physics and Quantum
Mechanics, at the level of the texts: Introduction to
Quantum Mechanics, by David J. Griffiths, Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1995);
Quantum Physics: Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei and Particles,
by Robert Eisberg and Robert Resnick.
For more course information, including style of homework submission and
grading, go here:
Spring 2003 Physics 811 Syllabus.
Suggested Textbooks
It is difficult to find one universally accepted textbook on quantum
mechanics at the graduate level, as there are numerous approaches
to its development. Here is the list of resources I will use
in preparing lectures. My primary recommendation for a text where
the conceptual development of the subject is pretty well described
is the one by Messiah, but it's old-fashioned, I also like Schiff,
but it seems to be out of print.
However, I will follow as much as possible the topics in
Merzbacher, which also gives some newer topics and a more modern
treatment. The book by Shankar is very readable and seems to be
well-received by students at the level between grad./undergrad, and
develops the subject starting from matrix mechanics and vector spaces,
rather than the more usual approach using the Schrodinger equation and
wave mechanics.
Quantum Mechanics, Third Edition, by Eugen Merzbacher,
John Wiley and Sons, (1998).
Quantum Mechanics, by Albert Messiah,
North Holland Publishing Co. (1961).
Quantum Mechanics, Third Edition, by Leonard I. Schiff,
McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1968).
Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Second Edition, by Ramamurti Shankar,
Plenum Press, New York (1994).
Quantum Physics, Second Edition, by Stephen Gasiowicz,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1996).
Other Good Textbooks
For some particular topics I will refer to the following texts:
Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, by Gordon Baym,
Elementary Theory of Angular Momentum, by M. E. Rose,
Quantum Mechanics, Nonrelativistic Theory by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz
Intermediate Quantum Mechanics, by H. A. Bethe and R. Jackiw
Quantum Mechanics, by C. Cohen-Tannoudji, B. Diu, and F. Laloe.
Lecture Notes
The ultimate source of these notes is Messiah and Merzbacher.
If you read in one of those books you will get more than what
I've written here, this is just to indicate the specific topics
I cover in the lectures.
*******Following Topics on Midterm Exam *****************
- Beginnings: End of Classical Physics,
Beginnings of Quantum Physics (Messiah Ch. I)
- Waves: Development of (Schrodinger) Wave Equations
for Quantum Systems (Messiah Ch. II)
- CGS: Notes on CGS Electric and Magnetic Units
- Psi: Interpretation of Psi and Wave-Particle Duality,
Coordinate, Momentum Representations (Messiah, Ch. IV)
- Brief notes on Gaussian Integrals
- Examples: Momentum Representation, Dynamics, Schrodinger Eqns.
- Spaces: Formalism of Quantum Mechanics:
Wavevector Space, Inner Products, Eigenspectra, Operators (Messiah, Ch. V)
- Spectra: The Formalism of Quantum Mechanics:
Continuum Spectrum Example (Merz., Ch. 4)
*******Above Topics on Midterm Exam *****************
*******Following Topics on Final Exam *****************
- Unitary: The Formalism of Quantum Mechanics:
Unitary Operators; Gauge Invariance Example (Merz., Ch. 4)
- Harmonic_0: Introduction to Harmonic Oscillator, Wavefunctions (Merz. Ch. 5)
- One-D: Applications---Simple One-Dimensional Quantized
Systems (Merzbacher Ch. 6, Messiah, Ch. III)
- Dirac: QM Formalism, Mathematical:
Dirac Notation, Projectors, Representations (Merzbacher Ch. 9, Messiah, Ch. VII)
- Measure: QM Formalism, Physical: Measurements,
Uncertainty, Different Pictures of Dynamics (Merzbacher Ch. 9, Messiah, Ch. VIII)
- Harmonic: Harmonic Oscillator, Operator Approach
(Merzbacher Ch. 5,10, Messiah, Ch. XII)
- Angular: Quantized Angular Momentum
(Merzbacher Ch. 11, Messiah, Ch. XIII)
- Spherically Symmetric Potentials (Merzbacher Ch. 12)
*******Above Topics on Final Exam *****************
- Introduction to Scattering Problems (Merzbacher Ch. 13)
Problems
(solutions require passwd)
-
Assn. 1. Intro and Old Quantum Theory, Bohr-Sommerfeld.
Solution 1.
-
Assn. 2: Matter Waves and Wave Packets
Solution 2.
-
Assn. 3: Expectation Values and Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Solution 3.
-
Assn. 4: Schrodinger Equations, Dynamics, QM Formalism
Solution 4.
-
Assn. 5: One-dimensional Harmonic Oscillator
Solution 5.
-
Assn. 6: More on Harmonic Oscillators, One-Dimensional Potentials
Solution 6.
-
Assn. 7: Application of Dirac Notation
Solution 7.
-
Assn. 8: More on Harmonic Oscillators; Operator Methods
Solution 8.
-
Assn. 9: On Angular Momentum
Solution 9.
-
Assn. 10: On Problems with Spherically Symmetric Potentials
Solution 10.
Exams
(solutions require passwd)
- Review for Final 2003 .
- Spring 2003 Final Exam.
Solution.
- Review for Midterm 2003 .
- Spring 2003 Midterm Exam.
Solution.
- Spring 2002 Midterm.
Solution.
- Spring 2002 Final.
Solution.
- Spring 2001 Midterm.
Solution.
- Spring 2001 Final.
Other Links At KSU
access since 00/09/12.
Last update: Monday April 12 2004.
email to -->
wysin@phys.ksu.edu