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Physics 1370: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics I

Fall 2008

Course description

This course is an introduction to quantum mechanics for undergraduate honors majors and first-year graduate students who have not taken such a course. Based on experimental phenomena, the course will introduce the formal apparatus for treating quantum problems. Emphasis in this first year of a two-term course will be on the Schroedinger equation, and its solution, in one and three dimensions, although references to other formalisms will be made. Among topics to be discussed will be: operators, eigenvalues, eigenfunctions and the physical interpretations of these quantitites. The harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom will be discussed. The textbook is "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by David J. Griffiths.

Homework

Homework is an essential part of learning the material of this course. Homework will be assigned each week on Monday and collected next week on Monday. You are encouraged to discuss the homework problems with each other after you have tried them to the best of your ability because you can learn a lot from each other. The solutions for the homework will be posted on this web site.

Discussion sessions and quizzes

An optional weekly discussion class will be offered where general concepts and homework will be discussed. Please turn in your schedule to me during the first week (before the end of August) so that I can set the dates for the discussion session and the midterm exams.

During the term, there will unannounced short quizzes during the regular class time. Each test will take about 15-20 minutes. You can work on the quizzes with a classmate. The test problems require only simple calculations and focus instead on the ideas and formalism of quantum mechanics.

To support your understanding of the underlying concepts of quantum mechanics, I will frequently interrupt the class during lectures to pose a conceptual question. You are asked to think about the question by yourself, then discuss it with your neighbor. Then I will have you record your answers on paper forms and collect them to see how many of you obtained the correct answer. The questions have been designed by the physics education research group of our department (Prof. Singh). It is important that you take the peer discussion seriously because you can learn a lot from your peers. Moreover, the questions will help you understand that the goal of this course is NOT the memorization of definitions and formulas but rather to train your ability to interpret theoretical concepts and make connections between various examples.

Grading scheme

There will be one mid-term exam and one comprehensive final exam. The mid-term will be held during the regular class on Wed, Oct 22, 2008. The final exam is scheduled for Thu, Dec 11, 2008. The final grade will be determined by the homework (20%), quizzes (20%), mid-term exam (20%), and final exam (40%). You can earn up to 5 bonus points towards to final grade by answering the conceptual questions posed during the lecture. You will get 50% for trying each question regardless of whether they are correct or not and 100% if you get it correct.


Tutorials

Tutorials for self-study (courtesy C. Singh)

1. Time development of wave functions in infinite square well: Worksheet, Simulation (requires Java Runtime Environment)

2. Bound and scattering states: Worksheet
      →Solution

3. Drawing bound and scattering states: Worksheet
      →Solution

4. Stern-Gerlach experiment: Worksheet, Simulations (requires Java Runtime Environment)

5. Larmor precession: Worksheet, Simulations (requires Java Runtime Environment)
      →Solution


Other materials

Time development of wave function with initial state Ψ(x,0) = A cos (πx)/(2a) for -a < x < a.
(green = Re Ψ,
 blue = Im Ψ,
 red = |Ψ|2)


Homework assignments

1. Week of 08/25, deadline 09/03 (pdf)
2. Week of 09/03, deadline 09/08 (pdf)
3. Week of 09/08, deadline 09/15 (pdf)
4. Week of 09/15, deadline 09/22 (pdf)
5. Week of 09/22, deadline 09/29 (pdf)
6. Week of 09/29, deadline 10/06 (pdf)
7. Week of 10/06, deadline 10/14 (pdf)
8. Week of 10/14, deadline 10/20 (pdf)
9. Week of 10/27, deadline 11/03 (pdf)
10. Week of 11/03, deadline 11/10 (pdf)
11. Week of 11/10, deadline 11/17 (pdf)
12. Week of 11/17, deadline 11/24 (pdf)