PHYSICS 215A: Quantum Mechanics
Fall 2016
- Instructor: Prof. Warren E. Pickett,
email: pickett@physics.ucdavis.edu
- Office: Physics 427;
Office Hours: Tuesday 3pm
- Phone: 530-220-2138
- Lecture: 10:30-11:50 TR, 140 Physics
- Reader: Fayez Abu-Ajamieh fayez0@yahoo.com
Office Hours: 2pm Fridays. Office is Physics 394
- Discussion Group: TBA
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. 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 textbooks, excellent for different
reasons. A representative list is:
- C. Cohen-Tannoudji et al., Quantum Mechanics
- P. A. M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
- A. R. Edmonds, Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics
- J. L. Eisberg, Fundamentals of Modern Physics
- R. P. Feynman, Feynman Lectures on Physics I: Quantum Mechanics
- K. Gottfried, Quantum Mechanics
- D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
- L. D. Landau & E. M. Lifshitz, Quantum Mechanics
- E. Merzbacher, Quantum Mechanics
- A. Messiah, Quantum Mechanics
- L. I. Schiff, Quantum Mechanics
- B. Thaller, Visual Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics for Dummies may not exist. However, better
is Schaum's Outline, and Cliff's Notes must be considering to step in!.
- URL for this course:
http://yclept.ucdavis.edu/course/215a.F16/Main.html.
Syllabus, schedule, assignments, etc. will be posted at this URL.
Assignments: to be posted at this URL. Homework is to
handed in at the beginning of class on the due date. It will be
accepted up to one day late, at 20% penalty.
Grading : Grades will be based on homework (25%),
two midterms (20% each, Oct 13 & Nov 8), and final (35%). Final is
scheduled for Tuesday Dec. 6, 6-8pm in Phy 140.
Course Topics:
See Course Outline at the URL given above.
We will follow closely Shankar's book, with occasional additional material.