Phys622 — Graduate Quantum Mechanics IIPurpose of this courseThis is the second semester of the two semester 621/622 cycle. Building upon our progress last semester, we will explore more advanced techniques and applications of quantum mechanics. Class ScheduleTuesdays and Thursdays, 11am — 12.20pm in Small Hall 122. Office HoursTuesdays and Thursdays, 2pm — 3pm in my office. Midterm ExamThursday March 21st during class time. Final ExamTuesday May 14th, 2pm in usual classroom. Lecture NotesI’ll post lecture notes on this website as we go along, which will sometimes contain a bit more information than we cover during lecture time. Hopefully this means you can do less writing and be a bit more focussed during lecture time. Please let me know of any errors you spot in the notes. Problem SetsThere will be regular problem sets on the material we cover in lectures. These are a very important part of the course, almost certainly more important than listening to your lecturer waffle on. Sitting through lectures may make you feel like you have learned something, but you don’t really know until you try to use the techniques you think you have learned. I will try my best to make the problems pedagogic so that you learn something by doing them. You should attempt the problems first on your own, but if you find you can’t solve a problem, you should seek help, either from me, or by collaborating with your classmates. But it is important that what you submit at the end represents your understanding of the problem — simply copying someone else's solution without understanding it is cheating and will not be tolerated. You should try to present your solutions 'professionally' — they should feature text explaining what each major step in your solution is trying to do, and labelling any prior results you are making use of. I’ll provide my own solutions each week so you can get a better idea of what I mean. You don’t need to use LaTeX or other typesetting (unless you want to), but I do need to be able to read what you submit, so please think about legibility. I want to emphasize that problems sets are not meant primarily as an assessment exercise, and for that reason, relatively little grade-credit is assigned to them. The payoff for putting in the effort comes in the form of learning, and the grade payoff comes when you get high grades in the midterm and the final exam, because you are so well-prepared, and then ace the QM problems on the qualifier. The problem sets and deadlines are posted below. BooksThere is no single recommended QM book for this class. There is a huge range to choose from, and you should select one which best matches your preparation
There are loads of other good books that I just don’t happen to know well, so find one that works for you. Most textbooks will say in the authors' foreword if they are aimed at the graduate level, and generally they all contain the same core topics. I would strongly recommend you do have at least one textbook on hand, and that you read the relevant sections in parallel as we go through the course. MathAs in Phys621, mainly linear algebra, simple solution of differential equations, and, of increasing importance in this second semester, complex variable theory. Topics
GradingProblem Sets: 30%, Midterm Exam: 25%, Final Exam: 45%. Lecture Notes
Problem Sets
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