S5646s00

PHYSICS 5646 - SPRING 2000
Introduction and Syllabus
Text: Modern Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Revised Edition.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professor.................Office...................Phone.......................e-mail.......................... Office hours
Dan Kimel...............608 Keen...........644-3437..................Kimel@hep.fsu.edu..... Mon.: 3:30-4:30
............................................................................................................................. Wed.: 3:30-4:30
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

This is the second semester of a two-semester course on modern quantum mechanics at the graduate level, covering fundamentals of quantum mechanics, quantum dynamics, angular momentum, symmetries, approximations, identical particles, scattering theory, and an introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics. The specific content of the course will mainly be drawn from the text, but with applications and examples also taken from Quantum Mechanics, Third Edition, by Eugen Merzbacher. The lectures are on Tuesday and Thursday, from 11:00 until 12:15 in 110 UPL. Homework solutions will be posted on the course web site at http://www.physics.fsu.edu/courses/spring00/phy5646/.

Student grades are based on weekly graded homework and class participation (25%), a midterm exam (25%), and a final exam (50%).

The goal of the course is to present a first-year graduate level account of modern quantum mechanics, beginning with an immediate introduction to the quantum formalism in terms of bras and kets. The course is designed for students who have already studied quantum mechanics at the junior or senior level. Problem solving is stressed as a means of imparting a physical understanding of and intuition for quantum mechanics. A secondary goal of the course is to develop selected topics in mathematical physics which are fundamental to exploring quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

Schedule

Date Assignment	Date Assignment
January	29 - Sec. 6.4 and 6.5
6 - Sec. 3.9 and 4.1	March
11 - Sec. 4.2...................... Turn in HW 1	2 .............................................. Midterm Exam
13 - Sec. 4.3	March 6-10 - Spring Break
18 - Sec. 4.4 ........................... Turn in HW 2	14 - Sec. 7.1 ....................... Turn in HW 8
20 - Sec. 5.1	16 - Sec. 7.2
25 - Sec. 5.2 ................. Turn in HW 3	21 - Sec. 7.3 Turn in HW 9
27 - Sec. 5.3	23 - Sec. 7.4 and 7.5
February	28 - Sec. 7.6 ............................ Turn in HW 10
1 - Sec. 5.4............................ Turn in HW 4	30 - Sec. 7.7 and 7.8
3 - Sec. 5.5	April
8 - Sec. 5.6 .......................... Turn in HW 5	4 - Sec. 7.9............................... Turn in HW 11
10 - Sec. 5.7	6 - Sec. 7.10 and 7.11
15 - Sec. 5.8........................... Turn in HW 6	11 - Relativistic QM ............ Turn in HW 12
17 - Sec. 6.1	13 - Relativistic QM
22 - Sec. 6.2........................... Turn in HW 7	18 - Relativistic QM Turn in HW 13
24 - Sec. 6.3	20 - Relativistic QM
	Final Exam: Mon., Apr. 24, 5:30-7:30 PM

Outline of the Content of PHY 5646

Symmetry in Quantum Mechanics

Symmetries, Conservation Laws, and Degeneracies
Discrete Symmetries, Parity, or Space Inversion
Lattice Translation as a Discrete Symmetry
The Time-Reversal Discrete Symmetry

Approximation Methods

Time-Independent Perturbation Theory: Nondegenerate Case
Time-Independent Perturbation Theory: The Degenerate Case
Hydrogen like Atoms: Fine Structure and the Zeeman Effect
Variational Methods and the WKB Approximation
The Interaction Picture and Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory

Identical Particles

Permutation Symmetry
Symmetrization Postulate
Two-Electron System
The Helium Atom
Permutation Symmetry and Young Tableaux

Scattering Theory

The Lippmann-Schwinger Equation
The Born Approximation
The Optical Theorem
Eikonal Approximation
Partial Wave Expansion
Low Energy Scattering, Bound States and Resonance Scattering
Identical Particles and Scattering
Symmetry Considerations in Scattering

Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

Lorentz Transformation, Klein-Gordon Equation, Solutions of K-G Equation
Dirac Equation, Dirac Equation in Hamiltonian Form
Plane Wave Solutions to the Dirac Equation, Simple Examples
Electromagnetic Interactions, the Magnetic Moment of the Electron
The Hydrogen Atom

PHY 5646 Course Grade Dividing Lines

Your final grade will be determined on the basis of your graded homework and class performance (25%), your midterm exam score (25%) and final exam score (50%). The following gives the course grade dividing lines on the basis of the weighted total score in percent.

A/A^-80% B⁺/B 70% B^-/C⁺ 55%

A^-/B⁺ 75% B/B^- 60% C⁺/C 50%

A/A^-80%	B⁺/B 70%	B^-/C⁺ 55%
A^-/B⁺ 75%	B/B^- 60%	C⁺/C 50%