PHYSICS 215A: Quantum Mechanics
Fall 2007
- Instructor: Prof. Warren E. Pickett,
email: pickett@physics.ucdavis.edu
- Office: Physics/Geology 427
Office Hours: Tuesday 3-4 PM, Friday 10-11 AM
- Phone: 530-752-0926
- Lecture: 8:40-10:00 MW, 416 PG
- Reader: Aleksander Zujev, room 406, azujev@ucdavis.edu
office hours: 1-2PM, Thursday
- Final Exam: to be posted
Content of 215ABC: Formal development and interpretation of
non-relativistic quantum mechanics; its application to atomic, molecular,
and solid state problems; brief introduction to relativistic QM and the
Dirac equation.
Prerequisites: PHY 115AB or equivalent, or consent of
instructor. Undergraduate
classical mechanics. Differential and integral calculus. Real
analysis. Complex
analysis.
Materials: The text for the course is
Principles of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd Edition
by Ramamurti Shankar (Plenum, New York, 1994).
There are many other excellent QM books, excellent for different
reasons. I've put on two-hour reserve at the library the following books:
- K. Gottfried, Quantum Mechanics
- L. I. Schiff, Quantum Mechanics
- E. Merzbacher, Quantum Mechanics, excellent but rather dense.
Other books, good for various kinds of reference, are
- C. Cohen-Tannoudji et al., Quantum Mechanics, also a good text.
- D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, instructive.
- P. A. M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, God's word,
but not for text.
- J. L. Eisberg, Fundamentals of Modern Physics, undergraduate
level, but useful.
- R. P. Feynman, Feynman Lectures on Physics I: Quantum Mechanics,
for a change.
- L. D. Landau & E. M. Lifshitz, Quantum Mechanics, a classic.
- A. Messiah, Quantum Mechanics, not really for beginners.
- A. R. Edmonds, Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics,
classic reference on a specific topic.
- B. Thaller, Visual Quantum Mechanics, will draw examples from this.
There are several dozen other books on quantum mechanics in the library.
Quantum Mechanics for Dummies seems not yet to be written. However, there
is a Schaum's Outline, and Cliff's Notes must be considering the idea!
- URL for this course:
http://yclept.ucdavis.edu/course/215A/Class.html.
Syllabus, schedule, assignments, etc. will be posted at this URL.
Assignments: to be posted at this URL.
Grading : Grades will be based on homework (25%),
two midterms (20% each, around week 4 and week 7), final (30%), classroom
participation/project (5%). The single lowest homework grade
will be discarded. Homework is to be handed in at beginning of class on
the day it is due; exceptions to this policy will be minimal, so don't
leave homework until the last night.
Course Topics: See Course Outline at the URL given above.
We will follow closely Shankar's book, with occasional additional material.