Class meets MWF 9:30 PM in Wean Hall 7316
Professor Mike Widom, Office 6424 Wean Hall
e-mail widom@andrew.cmu.edu, Phone: 268-7645
This course covers quantum mechanics at a first-semester introductory graduate level. Prior familiarity with fundamental principles and applications of quantum mechanics will be assumed at an advanced undergraduate level. A course web site at http://euler.phys.cmu.edu/widom/33-755 contains this syllabus plus links to day-by-day lecture coverage and weekly homework assignments.
Books: Six books are on reserve in the E&S library.
1. Cohen-Tannoudji, Diu and Laloë, Quantum Mechanics,
vols. 1 and 2 (530.12 C67q)
2. Landau and Lifshitz, Quantum Mechanics (Non-relativistic theory)
(530.1 L25Q3)
3. Bransden and Joachain, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (530.12 B821I)
4. Merzbacher, Quantum Mechanics (530.12 M57Q2)
5. Ashcroft and Mermin, Solid State Physics (530.41 A82S)
6. Griffiths, Consistent Quantum Theory (530.12 G85C)
The principal content of the course will be drawn from Cohen-Tannoudji volume 1, and we will mainly follow its notation and examples. The remaining books contain supplementary course material not found in the main text and alternate presentations of the main text material.
Grading: Letter grades will be based on weekly (and long!) homework assignments and several exams. The first exam is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27, to be held in class. Homework assignments are listed here.
Course Outline:
Note this outline is only approximate. Actual class coverage can be found here.
Weeks 1-3. Review of basic quantum mechanics and mathematical tools. Read Cohen-Tannoudji chapters 1 and 2.
Weeks 4-6. Quantum fundamentals. Read Cohen-Tannoudji chapter 3 plus Griffiths chapters 4-12.
Weeks 7-8. Harmonic oscillators, phonons and photons. Read Cohen-Tannoudji chapter 5.
Weeks 9-11. Angular momentum and the hydrogen atom. Read Cohen-Tannoudji chapters 6 and 7.
Weeks 12-15. Electron spin and addition of angular momentum. Read Cohen-Tannoudji chapters 4, 9 and 10.