Tom Cohen2104 Physics BuildingCollege Park, Maryland 20742-4111 Tel: 301-405-6117 Fax: [email protected] OF PHYSICS Physics 402----Quantum Physics II----Spring 2005Instructor: Prof. Thomas Cohen (I prefer to be addressed as Tom)Office: 2104 (Physics Building)Phone: 5-6117 (Office); 301-654-7702 (Home)E-mail: [email protected]: Dong ShengOffice: 4210 (Physics Building)Phone: 5-6191 E-mail: [email protected] HoursOffice hours are immediately following class. I am also generally available in my officeand happy to see students; just drop by--or, better yet, give me a call and then drop by.Course PhilosophyThe basic formalism of quantum mechanics was developed in Physics 401. Physics402 has three main purposes: i) to generalize the basic framework so that we can study problems in three dimensions, problems with spin degrees of freedom and many-bodysystems. ii) to use quantum mechanics to study physical problems of interest particularlyin atomic and solid state physics and iii) to develop approximation methods which allowus study problems which are not tractable for exact solution and which give insight intothe underlying physics.BooksThe principal text for the course is Griffiths' Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. Thebook is very readable and clear. One drawback of Griffith' s book is that it is quiteconcise and leaves out a lot of good physics for the student to work out as problems. Iwill work out many of these in class.HomeworkProblem sets will be assigned regularly. Problem sets may require the use of numericalanalysis that can be done in Mathematica or some other computer program. I stronglyencourage students to consult each other on problem sets. Ideally you should attempt allof the problems by yourselves and if you get stuck you should then consult your peers.Homework will count approximately 20% of the final grade.ExamsThere will be a midterm exam and a final exam in this course. The exams will count forapproximately 85% of the total course grade. The date of the mid-term exam will beannounced in class.The exams are currently planned as take-home. Take-home exams have two virtues:they reduce the time pressure on students and allow them to perform at their best andthey allow for questions that are less trivial than can be done during a class period. Theydo have a potential drawback, however. They are impossible to police efficiently againstcheating. Thus, we must rely on your integrity. I will ask you to pledge to do the examsalone and to stick to this pledge. I should note that the whole enterprise of sciencedepends on the integrity of the researchers--- when I read a scientific paper I mustassume that the researchers didn't cook the books or I won't get anywhere.Honor PledgeThe University of Maryland has instituted an honor pledge. Students are asked to writeby hand and then sign the following statement on all significant course work not explicitlyexempted by the instructor:"I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received an unauthorizedassistance on this assignment/examination."For Physics 402, problem sets are exempt from the honor pledge. Indeed, for problem sets, Iactively encourage students to collaborate. However, the honor pledge should be taken for exams.Note that it is not mandatory for students to take this pledge but they are bound by theUniversity’s Code of Academic Integrity regardless of whether they take the pledge.Tentative Course OutlineQuantum Mechanics in Three Dimensions (Chapter 4)• Generalizing the Hilbert space to add degrees of freedom• Quantum mechanics three dimensions• Central force problems and spherical Harmonics• Angular momentum• The hydrogen atom• SpinApplications of Quantum Mechanics with two or more particles (Chapter 5)• Generalization to many particles• Two particle systems and the reduced mass• Identical particles and exchange symmetry---fermions and bosons• Aspects of atomic physics---role of the Pauli principle• Aspects of solid state physics---the fermi gas; Bloch’s theorem and band structureApproximation Methods in Quantum Mechanics (Chapters 6-10)• Time-independent perturbation theory• Applications of time independent perturbation theory in atomic physics• Brief treatment of other time independent approximation methods---variational and WKB approximations• Time-dependent perturbation theory• Application to two level systems• The sudden and adiabatic approximationsScattering theory (Chapter 11 if time permits)• Meaning of Cross-Section• Partial wave analysis and phase shifts• The Born
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