Graduate Quantum Mechanics

Spring 2021     Welcome to the second semester of graduate-level Quantum Mechanics, PH6004.
  1. Textbooks & Lecture Notes: 
    1. Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, 2nd Edition, Steven Weinberg
    2. Modern Quantum Mechanics, 2nd Edition, J.J. Sakurai and Jim Napolitano
    3. Linear Algebra (Chapter 4) and Physical Constants (Appendix D) of Analytical Methods in Physics
    4. Quantum Mechanics Lecture Notes
  2. Class Venue: S4-621
  3. Class Times: Wednesdays 10-11:50 pm; Thursdays 9-9:50 am
  4. My Office: S4-718
  5. E-mail: yizen [dot] chu [at] gmail [dot] com
  6. My Office Hours: I won't hold regular office hours -- simply come by my office. If I'm busy we can fix a time to meet later; or, drop me an e-mail to do so.
  7. Graduate Teaching Assistants: Yan-Ru Chen
    1. Office: S4-715-1-1
    2. E-mail: rubby860729 [dot] gmail [dot] com
    3. Office Hours: By e-mail appointment.
- Yi-Zen
  • Disability     If you have a disability that you think I should know about, and if you need special accomodations, please feel free to speak to me after class or e-mail me to set up a meeting.    
  • Academic Integerity     You are encouraged to discuss with your classmates the material covered in class, and even work together on your assignments. However, the work you turn in must be the result of your own effort. If I find that you copied your work from some place else, you will immediately receive zero credit for that particular piece of work. If you plagarized your classmate, your classmate will also receive zero credit for her/his/their work, unless (s)he/they can prove to my satisfaction (s)he/they were unwilling participant(s) of your dishonesty.
Syllabus and Grading Scheme

The course material will cover some of the following topics:
  • Spin, Rotation, Wigner-Eckart, Bosons vs Fermions etc.
  • Symmetries & Conservation Laws
  • Approximation Methods, Zeeman & Stark Effects, Berry Phase
  • Open Quantum Systems
  • Path Integrals
  • Scattering, Optical Theorem, "In" and "Out" States
  • Canonical Formalism, Constrained Hamiltonian Systems
  • Quantum theory of electromagnetic radiation
Because I wish to reward hard work during the semester, I will give most weight -- 75% of your total grade -- to the homework you turn in. The midterm+final paper will take up the rest of the 25%.

Homework (75%):     I recommend starting your homework as soon as possible -- do not wait until the day before it is due to do it! Note: I will not accept late homework -- just turn in whatever you have done at the time/day it is due.
  1. Due Thursday 25 March 2021: HW 1.
  2. Due Thursday 15 April 2021: Problems 8.3, 8.4; 14.1 through 14.5; 15.1 through 15.4 of QM Notes.
  3. Due Friday 14 May 2021: Problems 4.99, 4.100, 4.101 of Analytical Methods; Problems 17.1, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, A.1, A.2 of QM Notes; Weinberg Problems 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4.
  4. Due Monday 21 June 2021: Weinberg 6.1, 6.2; Sakurai Problem 5.30 (see here and here); QM Notes Problems 5.2, 19.1, 19.2, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4
Final (25%):     Form a group of 2-3 people, and with your team mates, solve one of the following projects and present the solution during the final two seeks of the semester (i.e., 16, 17, 23 and 24 June).
  • Projects: One, Two. I recommend 3 people for project 1; and 2 for project 2.
Additional Material

Linear algebra explained in Dirac bra-ket notation can be found in Chapter 4 of Analytical Methods in Physics.

Additional notes on QM here.

More on the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector here and here.

Quantum Mechanics Textbooks

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of mine (Yi-Zen Chu). The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the National Central University.