Quantum Mechanics 2: e-Gear

Below is a growing list of on-line course materials an links. Links marked with an asterisk (*) point to PDF files; to view them, you may need to obtain the proper plug-in and Reader software from Adobe.

Last year’s exams and study material

• A handout on Wigner-Eckardt theorem* and on WKB & Variational Method*

• A sample quiz*

• The first mid-term exam* (and its solution*)

• The second mid-term exam* (and its solution*)

Both mid-term exams have an in-class and a take-home component. After having done as much as possible in-class (in 1 hour), the students complete and correct their work over the next couple of days, at 2/3 of credit. That is, a proposed take-home solution (or part thereof) supersedes the in-class attempt. However, as take-home effort only carries 2/3 of the credit, students should rework only those (parts of) problems where they can successfully solve at least 1.5 times more than they did in-class.

• The final exam*, take-home and comprehensive.

The sample term paper; Alpha Decay* (updated 2012.01.31) is provided for the Student's benefit, as additional information complementing the text and other class-notes and handouts.

Day	Topics covered in class (see also the iTunes U version):
01.	Interaction picture; Spin precession; Spin resonance
02.	Exponential vs. Non-Exponential Decay; A Typo and an Integral; Decay Paradoxes
03.	Energy-Time Indeterminacy; Quantum Beats; Kaons and Neutrinos
04.	Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory; Harmonic Perturbations and Fermi’s Golden Rule; Radiative Perturbation
05.	Discrete Symmetries: C (Charge Conjugation), P (Space Inversion), T (Time Reversal)
06.	WKB: Derivation, Properties and Connection Formulae, Applications
06.a	WKB: Alpha Decay; Gamow's Simple Model and Some Improvements
07.	H-Atom Details: The Bohr Model—A Reminder; Relativistic Corrections; Magnetic Corrections
08.	H-Atom Details (2): Hyperfine Structure; Quantum Field Corrections
09.	The “ Classical Limit”; Ehrenfest’s Theorem; The Phase-Hamilton-Jacobi Theorem
10.	QM over Phase-Space; Feynman-Hibbs Path-Integrals; Quantization and Anomalies
11.	Once ionized Hydrogen molecule
12.	Molecular forces and stability
13.	Scattering - basic theory; Phase-shifts; Examples
14.	Scattering Amplitude Theorem; Applications & the Born Approximation
15.	Formal Scattering Theory & the Lippmann-Schwinger Equation; The S-Matrix and the T-Matrix
16.	A few identical particles; The (anti)symmetrization postulate
17.	Lots of identical particles; Exchange consequences; Particle operators
18.	Hartree-Fock Method; Fermi gas
19.	Crystals: general facts; The Kronig-Penney model
20.	Crystals and semiconductivity; Emission current from a metal
21.	Quantum fields: Zero-point energy; The Casimir force
22.	States of the EM field; Spontaneous emission and photon detectors
23.	Correations, coherence, tomography
24.	Quantum measurement; Bell’s theorem

Some possibly useful links:

• Visual Quantum Mechanics by the good folks at Kansas State University.

• Computational Physics by the good folks at Oregon State University.

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