Quantum Theory

Phys 351, Fall 2017

Course Web Page

Brooks Thomas

Hugel 020
Physics Department
Lafayette College
730 High St.
Easton, PA 18042

Phone: (610) 330-5207
Email: thomasbd@lafayette.edu

Contact Info

Physics at Lafayette

Other Resources

• My Personal Home Page
• Lafayette Physics Department
• Physics Courses

• List of NSF REU Sites
• APS Resources for Students
• Society of Physics Students (SPS)
• CUWiP
• SACNAS National Conference

Course Materials and Other Useful Links

• Syllabus
• Resources and Demos Page
• Course Moodle

Textbook

• David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Office hours

• Mon., 3:00 - 4:00 PM
• Wed., 9:00 - 10:00 AM and 3:00 - 4:00 PM
• Fri., 3:00 - 4:00 PM

If you cannot make it during my formal office hours, please email me in order to schedule an appointment. You should also feel free to drop by my office unannounced.

Course Schedule

Date	Topic	Reading	Homework
Week 1
8/28	Introduction	1.1-1.2
8/30	Probability and the Wavefunction	1.3-1.4
9/1	Quantum Uncertainty and the de Broglie Relation	1.5-1.6
Week 2
9/4	The infinite Square Well	2.1-2.2	HW 1 Due
9/6	The Free Particle	2.4
9/8	Boundary Conditions and the Finite Square Well	2.6
Week 3
9/11	Potential Barriers	2.5	HW 2 Due
9/13	Quantum Harmonic Oscillator, Part I	2.3.1
9/15	Quantum Harmonic Oscillator, Part II	2.3.2
Week 4
9/18	Linear Algebra Review	Appendix A	HW 3 Due
9/20	Hilbert Space	3.1
9/22	Dirac Notation	3.6
Week 5
9/25	Observables and Eigenvalues	3.2-3.3	HW 4 Due
9/27	The Generalized Statistical Interpretation	3.4
9/29	Deriving the Uncertainty Principle	3.5
Week 6
10/2	The Schrödinger Equation in Spherical Coordinates	4.1.1	HW 5 Due
10/4	Wavefinctions in Spherical Coordinates	4.1.2-4.1.3	Mid-Term Exam I distributed
10/6	The Hydrogen Atom, Part I	4.2.1	Mid-Term Exam I due
Week 7
10/9	Fall Break (No Class Meeting)
10/11	The Hydrogen Atom, Part II	4.2.2
10/13	Angular Momentum, Part I	4.3.1
Week 8
10/16	Angular Momentum, Part II	4.3.2	HW 6 Due
10/18	Spin, Part I	4.4.1
11/22	Brooks at Light Dark 2017 Conference (No Class Meeting. Make-Up Meeting Tues., Oct. 24th)
Week 9
10/23	Spin, Part II	4.4.2
10/24	Addition of Angular Momentum (Special Class Meeting from 1:10 - 2:00 PM)	4.4.3	HW 7 Due
10/25	Fermions, Bosons, and the Exclusion Principle	5.1.1
10/27	Exchange forces and Their Implications	5.1.2
Week 10
10/30	Time-Independent Perturbation Theory	6.1
11/1	Dealing with Degeneracy	6.2	HW 8 Due, Presentation Topic Approval
11/22	Brooks at AAPT New Faculty Workshop (No Class Meeting. Make-Up Meeting Tues., Nov. 7th)
Week 11
11/6	The Fine Structure of Hydrogen	6.3-6.4
11/7	Hyperfine Splitting (Special Class Meeting from 12:00 - 12:50 PM)	6.5
11/8	The Variational Principle	7.1	HW 9 Due
11/10	The Simplest Multi-Electron Atom: Helium	7.2
Week 12
11/13	The Simplest Molecule: The H2+ Molecule Ion	7.3
11/15	Tunneling and the WKB Appoximation	8.1-8.2	Mid-Term Exam II distributed
11/17	Catch-Up Day		Mid-Term Exam II due
Week 13
11/20	The Connection Formula	8.3	HW 10 Due
11/22	Thanksgiving Break (No Class Meeting)
11/24	Thanksgiving Break (No Class Meeting)
Week 14
11/27	Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory	9.1	Presentation Abstracts Due
11/29	The Adiabatic Approximation	10.1	HW 11 Due
12/1	Berry's Phase	10.2.1-10.2.2
Week 15
12/4	Bell's Theorem and the EPR Paradox	12.1-12.2
12/6	Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics	TBA	HW 12 Due
12/8	Final Presentation Session and Review
Final Exam
TBA	Final Exam: TBA