Physics 214b Spring 2009
Introductory Quantum Mechanics

Instructor: Stephon Alexander (X2973, KINSC Link 102)
Office hours: TBA

Meets: MWF 11:30-12:30, KINSC E309
Recitation: TBA

 Syllabus (also available in PDF or Word Format)

 Assignments (choose a format):
Assignment 1 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 2 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 3 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 4 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 5 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 6 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 7 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 8 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 9 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 10 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Assignment 11 Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format


 

Exam 1:
Coverage: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Practice Questions: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Exam 1: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format

Exam 2:
Coverage: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Practice Questions: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Exam 2: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format

Final Exam:
Coverage: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format
Practice Questions: Web Page .. PDF .. Word Format

Supplementary Materials
Relativity fundamentals explained well (I hope), by Walter F. Smith

Lecture Summaries (choose a format; PDF files are smaller, Word or PDF files have the nicest formatting):

Monday
Wednesday
Friday
1-21-08
MLK day
1-23-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Relativistic momentum
1-25-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
E = mc2
1-28-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Comparison of nuclear and coal power, E2=p2c2 + m2c4, Equipartition theorem
1-30-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
The ultraviolet catastrophe, photons, E = hv, the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, , photomultiplier tubes
2-1-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Phonons, phase changes of light upon reflection, Aspect single-photon interference
2-4-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Probability amplitude for phonons, de Broglie hypothesis, Davisson-Germer experiment
2-6-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Plausibility argument for Schrodinger equation
2-8-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Plausibility argument for Schrodinger equation (ctd.), how to read a physics book, momentum operator, physical meaning of
2-11-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Interpretations of quantum mechanics, probability current, arbitrariness of oscillation frequency
2-13-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Localized wave packets, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, energy-time uncertainty principle, group velocity
2-15-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Expectation values, uncertainty in x
Mathematica notebook: finding the uncertainty in x for a Gaussian
2-18-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Expectation value for momentum, Gaussian wave packet
Mathematica notebook: Gaussian wave packet
2-20-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Analogy between coupled pendula and quantum mechanics
2-22-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Eigenfunctions of , Dirac delta function
2-25-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Generalizations: orthonormality, superpositions, probabilities. Separation of variables.
2-27-08
Exam review session
2-29-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Time-independent SEQ, stationary states, infinite square well
3-3-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Superposing energy eigenstates, finite square well
Mathematica notebook for animating superpositions of infinite well states
3-5-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Finite square well (ctd.)
3-7-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
General form of wavefunction for bound states
3-17-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Nodes, eigenfunctions of revisited, harmonic oscillator
3-19-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Harmonic oscillator, scattering from step potential
3-21-08
Class cancelled in favor of lecture from candidate
3-24-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Finish step potential, begin tunneling
3-26-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Tunneling, field emission

3-28-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Field Ion Microscopy, Alpha decay

3-31-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Bra-ket notation, Observables are Hermitian, degeneracy, orthogonality of eigenfunctions, completeness of eigenfunctions, the commutator, commuting observables

4-2-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Schwarz inequality, generalized uncertainty relation

4-4-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Time evolution of expectation values, generalized interpretation of energy-time uncertainty relation, 3D TISEQ

4-7-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
The Laplacian, 3D infinite square well, separation of spatial variables, Hamiltonian in spherical coordinates,

4-9-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Separation of variables, can find simultaneous eigenfunctions of H, Lz, and L2, eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of Lz

4-11-08
Exam review session

4-14-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Power series solution for the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of L2
4-16-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Spherical harmonics, relation between ml and l, centrifugal barrier
4-18-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Solution of the radial equation, principal quantum number, energy levels of hydrogenic atoms, relation between l and n
4-21-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Radial probability density, spectroscopy, Zeeman effect
4-23-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
An example of using superpositions of energy eigenstates
Mathematica notebook: superposing energy eigenstates for the harmonic oscillator
4-25-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Stern-Gerlach experiment, spin, notation for the spin degree of freedom
4-28-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Variants of Stern-Gerlach experiment, superpositions of spin states, multiparticle wavefunctions, exchange operator, indistinguishability
4-30-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Symmetrizing and anti-symmetrizing wavefunctions, spin-statistics theorem, Pauli exclusion principle
5-2-08 Web page .. PDF .. Word
Singlet and triplet states, spx, spy, and spz orbitals, exchange interaction, Hund's rule, shielding by core electrons, Aufbau principle

 

Songs: The Relativity Song

hv, by Gilbert Stead
The Photon and The Wave Kronecker Delta Functions
Alpha Decay Energy Eigenstates

Links:

Clips from "The Mechanical Universe" on relativistic momentum. (This requires that you establish a free account, but it is well worthwhile -- I'll be posting quite a number of clips from this series.) Go to episode 44 (Mass, Momentum, Energy), then scroll to the desired time. If desired, right-click the movie and choose "Zoom" to make the movie larger. DO NOT waste your time watching the whole episode -- there is an unusual amount of fluff in this particular one.

Episode 44
6:15-7:55 Review of classical momentum
9:20-14:50 Relativistic mass and momentum
(The z-axis on the spacetime diagram is time, but don't worry too much about it.)

Clips from "The Mechanical Universe" on relativistic mass and energy. (This requires that you establish a free account.) Go to episode 44 (Mass, Momentum, Energy), then scroll to the desired time. If desired, right-click the movie and choose "Zoom" to make the movie larger. DO NOT waste your time watching the whole episode -- there is an unusual amount of fluff in this particular one.

Episode 44
15:30-17:20 and 18:30-20:35 Increased mass interpretation
18:30-20:35 Relativistic energy

Biography of Max Planck
"I knew the formula that reproduces the energy distribution in the normal spectrum; a theoretical interpretation had to be found at any cost, no matter how high."

Learn more about The Ultraviolet Catastrophe and Planck's solution

Biography of Louis de Broglie
"You had the boldness to assert, without the support of any known fact, that matter had not only a corpuscular nature, but also a wave nature. Experiment came later and established the correctness of your view." -- C W Oseen, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics

Plots of orbitals for hydrogenic atoms

Researchers at the IBM Almaden Laboratory used a scanning tunneling microsope to position 48 individual Fe atoms in a circular corral on a Cu surface. The waves seen eminating from the center are due to quantum mechanical wavefunctions of the surface electrons forced into circular states by the arrangement of the Fe atoms.

(Thanks to Rob Scarrow for this caption.)

Background: Series of images from 2005 showing the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate. From the group of Wolfgang Ketterle and Dave Pritchard at MIT.