Instructor: Prof. Warren E. Pickett, email: pickett@physics.ucdavis.edu

Office: Physics 427; Office Hours: Wed. 11-12; Fri. 10-11am.

Phone: 530-220-2138

Lecture: 10:30-11:50 TR, 185 Physics

Reader: Nadia Bolis Office Hours: Monday 3pm; Tues. 2pm. Office is Physics 506

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. For PHY 215B, PHY 215A is required. Undergraduate classical mechanics. Differential and integral calculus. Real analysis. Complex analysis.
Materials: The text for the course is

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

URL for this course: http://yclept.ucdavis.edu/course/215a.F16/Main.html. Syllabus, schedule, assignments, etc. will be posted at this URL.

Material to be covered in 215B. In 215A, Shankar chapters 1-11 were covered, and Chap. 12 was begun, we will return to it.

However, due to a guest who will be lecturing in the first week (our TA Nadia Bolis), the first two classes will be spent on Time Independent Perturbation Theory, Chap. 17, but only up through Exercise 17.2.4 because further discussion and application of perturbation theory in Shankar involves systems that we have not yet covered, viz. hydrogen atom.

Degenerate perturbation theory will follow the treatment of Griffiths, with the relevant chapter being available on the Homework page.

After perturbation theory, we will return to Chap. 12 and follow Shankar except for some important separate material (such as more on many-body systems).

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.