The first class is Monday, Jan. 6. The TA, Antonio Boveia, will teach a section on Friday from noon to 12:50 in 1160 Phelps.
The lecturer is Harry Nelson, and the TA is Antonio Boveia. Prof. Nelson's office hours are currently Tues. 2:30pm-3:30pm, Friday 3:00pm-4:00pm and by appointment, Antonio Boveia's are currently Monday 9-10am and Friday 1:00-3:00pm in the PLC. Our grader, Victor Soto, will have office hours Thursday 11:00-12:30pm in the PLC.
This is the first quarter of a core course on Quantum Mechanics. The textbook is `Principles of Quantum Mechanics' by R. Shankar. We will cover material from Chapters 1 through 6 of Shankar. The principal planned topics include linear algebra for quantum mechanics, review of Hamiltonian formalism, the postulates of Quantum Mechanics, and one-dimensional problems.
One midterm is planned on Monday, Feb 10.
Homework is assigned on Monday, due the next Monday in class. Homework turned in after class on Monday will have 10% of the score removed; homework turned in on Tuesday by 5pm will have 20% of the score removed; homework turned in any time after that will have 50% of the score removed. You may work with others on working out the problems, but you must write up solutions independently of one another.
The grading formula to be 45% Final, 30% Midterm, and 25% Problems.
| Shankar Table of Contents | ||
| Pages | Lecture Dates | Reading |
| Pages 1-8 | Jan. 6 | Shankar pp. 1-10 |
| Pages 9-17 | Jan. 8 | Shankar pp. 11-20 |
| Pages 18-27 | Jan. 13, 15 | Shankar pp. 21-30 |
| Pages 28-35 | Jan. 15 | Shankar pp. 21-30 |
| Pages 34-42 | Jan. 22 | Shankar pp. 21-30 |
| Pages 43-51 | Jan. 27 | Shankar pp. 31-38 |
| Pages 52-57 | Jan. 29 | Shankar pp. 38-46, 54-57 |
| Pages 58-65 (note, page # wrong on scan) | Feb. 3 | |
| Pages 66-71 | Feb. 5 | Shankar pp. 63-73 |
| Antonio Boveia's Midterm Review | Feb. 7 | Midterm Solutions |
| Pages 72-79 | Feb. 12 | Shankar pp. 115-128 |
| Pages 80-87 Corrected page 82 | Feb. 19 | Shankar pp. 129-133 |
| Pages 88-96 Corrected page 89 | Feb. 24 | Shankar pp. 134-143 |
| Pages 97-105 Wave Packet Applet | Feb. 26 | Shankar pp. 143-144, 149-150, 151-155 |
| Pages 106-114 | Mar. 3 | Shankar pp. 156-163 |
| Pages 115-122 | Mar. 5 | Shankar pp. 164-167 |
| Final | Mar. 18 | Final Solutions |
| Link | Date Assigned | Date Due | |
| Problem Set 1 | Jan. 6 | Jan. 13 | Solutions |
| Problem Set 2 | Jan. 13 | Jan. 21 - To 115A Mailbox, Physics Study Center, 3314 Broida | Solutions |
| Problem Set 3 | Jan. 20 | Jan. 27 | Solutions and Discussion of Problem 3 |
| Problem Set 4 | Jan. 27 | Feb. 3 | Solutions |
| Problem Set 5 | Feb. 3 | Feb. 10 | Solutions |
| Problem Set 6 | Feb. 10 | Feb. 18 - To 115A Mailbox, Physics Study Center, 3314 Broida | Solutions |
| Problem Set 7 | Feb. 19 | Feb. 24 | Solutions |
| Problem Set 8 Problem #1, the exponent should contain (x-a)^2, that is, (x-a) squared | Feb. 24 | Mar. 3 | Solutions |
| Problem Set 9 | Mar. 3 | Mar. 10 | Solutions (revised) |
| Problem Set 10 | Mar. 10 | Not Due! Turn in at final for extra credit. | Solutions , Spreadsheet, problem 1 |
| Particle Data Group | Source of many useful tables |
| Nobel Prizes | The Nobel e-Museum |
| Colloquia Online | Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation Science Page |
| DMN | Dallas Morning News Science Page (free registration required) |
| LAT | Los Angeles Times Science Page |
| NYT | New York Times Science Page |
| PT | Physics Today (Registration required to view articles) |