PHY4604, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

Syllabus
Fall 2004

• Instructor: Peter Hirschfeld, Professor of Physics with interests in superconductivity and low temperature
physics.

Office Hours: NPB 2156, Wed. 7th (1:55pm) Thursday 7th (1:55pm); Appointments will gladly be scheduled
for those students who cannot make official hours.

• Text: D. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Prentice-Hall, 2004.

• Recommended Supplementary Texts:
1. M. Horbatsch, Quantum Mechanics Using Maple, Springer Publishing, (NY), 1995.
2. R.P.Feynman, R. B. Leighton and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, California Institute of
Technology, 1966, VIII.

• Other Useful Quantum Mechanics Texts:

1. P.J.E. Peebles, Quantum Mechanics

2. S. Gasiorowicz, Quantum Physics Wiley, 1996.
3. C. Cohen-Tanoudji, B. Diu, and F. Laloë, Quantum Mechanics, Wiley, 1977.
4. A. Messiah, Quantum Mechanics, North-Holland, 1961.
5. R. Shankar, Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Plenum, 1994.

• Other References on Symbolic Manipulation Program Maple

1. Essential Maple 7 by Robert M. Corless
2. Introduction to Maple by Andre Heck

• Course Description:

An introduction to the quantum theory, as formulated in the 1920’s and 1930’s by Born, Bohr, Schrödinger,
Heisenberg, and others. First, we’ll discuss how quantum theory arose in the face of certain discrepancies
between 19th-century classical theory and experiment. Then, I’ll try to impart a set of mathematical tools
needed to formulate problems in quantum mechanics, introducing methods of theoretical physics required to
solve them as needed. Topics covered will range from the practical, like the basics of atomic spectroscopy, to
the abstract, e.g. measurement theory and quantum “paradoxes” like Schrödinger’s cat. For a more detailed
set of topics see schedule below. I intend to stretch your mind.

• Prerequisites:

One year of general physics with calculus, or permission from a department undergraduate advisor is required.
It is recommended –but not required–that before taking PHY4604, students take Physics C (Modern Physics)
complete the calculus sequence, and have had some exposure to ordinary differential and partial differential
equations, as well as matrix/linear algebra.

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• Required Work:

Homework:
The weekly problem sets represent by far the most important element of the course, and where you will learn
the most. I encourage you to work on them in groups if you like; the problems will occasionally be difficult and
may require more than one head! However, be convinced in the depths of your soul that letting others do the
work for you will lead to disaster at test time. A good technique for many students is to try all the problems
individually, then get together in a group for the tough ones.
Problem sets will be posted on the web every Monday, and be due the following Monday. Some (not all) will
contain problems which are to be solved using Maple (see below). Each problem set will be worth a total of
10 points, and your grade will decay 4 points for the first day it is late after the solutions are posted, plus
a further 1/2 point for each subsequent week. I will drop the lowest two homework grades at the end of the
course. My goal will be to hand the problem sets back Monday one week after receiving them, but occasionally
other considerations will interfere, and I ask for your understanding.

Tests:

There will be three required tests and a final examination administered in class on the following dates:

In-class test 1 NPB 1101, Fri., Oct. 8

In-class test 2 NPB 1101, Fri., Nov. 5
In-class test 3 NPB 1101, Fri., Dec. 3
Final NPB 1101, Time TBA, Dec. 16

You must bring writing instruments and a student identification card with a photo for all tests and the final.
All necessary paper will be provided, and calculators will not be allowed or needed.

The lowest absolute score of the 3 tests will be dropped. Due to this policy, no makeup tests will be allowed.

Makeup policy: Since the policy of dropping tests and homeworks is very generous, no makeups are allowed.

Grading Policy: The various components of your final grade will be weighted as follows:

Tests 1-3 40%

Final 20%
Homework 40%

There will be no “extra credit” under any circumstances.

Letter grades will be assigned according to a ”curved” distribution. However, the following minimum scores
will guarantee the following grades: 85-A, 80-B+, 72-B, 65-C+, 60-C, 55-D+, 50-D. For example, depending
on the ”curve”, a score of 72% may be sufficient for a B+. Your actual raw percentage score should not be
compared to those you receive in other courses. Because physics involves very different kinds of skills from other
science and mathematics courses, even very good students will generally not solve all parts of most problems
correctly. Demonstrating that you understand a problem even if you cannot solve all its parts will result in
partial credit.
If you feel your test has been unfairly or improperly graded, you are welcome to present your test booklet
for regrading. However, the entire exam is then subject to regrading, and the final grade may be lower! You

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 are responsible for all material covered in the textbook and in lecture, including any announcements made or
special handouts distributed in lecture. If you must be absent during a given lecture, check with a friend to
make sure you know what was covered.

• Maple Problems

One of my secondary goals in this course is to teach you Maple, a computer environment for doing mathematics.
Maple or something like it will be as basic a tool in a few years as a pocket calculator is now for all quantitative
scientists and engineers. I am not an expert; while teaching you I intend to learn myself. I expect there are
those among you who know Maple pretty well, and would like to ask you to make your expertise available to
me and the class so we can all learn.
Because of the expected diversity in students’ computer backgrounds, I will start out slowly with the Maple
exercises. However if you are not familiar with Maple, you need to get started quickly by doing the following:

1. Purchase one of the Maple books listed on page 1 of this syllabus and learn on your own, and/or attend
weekly Maple help sessions. The recommended text by Horbatsch is not a book which will teach you
Maple. If you don’t want to buy a Maple book, the software itself does come with extensive tutorials and
an excellent help system.
2. Find a way to use Maple. It is installed on machines in the physics department computing lab, as well as
on the physics dept. network accessible via machines in the undergrad lounge.
• Review Sessions:

In addition, I will hold optional weekly review sessions, location and time to be announced. In some weeks, the
first few minutes will be devoted to Maple or mathematical techniques; in others, the week’s physics material.
Most of the time will be devoted to problems of the students’ choosing.

• How to succeed in Physics 4604:

1. It is expected that a successful student in this course will invest twelve hours of studying and problem-solving
per week outside of class. Do not expect a good grade if you are not prepared to work this much.
2. Read the assigned text before coming to lecture. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized.
3. Study with your fellow students.
4. Get help if necessary. I encourage you to visit my office hours and those of the TA for this course regularly.
• World Wide Web page

Course announcements, schedule and this syllabus in its entirety will be posted on

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/∼pjh/teaching/phy4604

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 PHY4604--Course Schedule Fall 2004

Week Topic(s) Reading Homework Notes

Dilemmas of classical physics

• Energy quantization
• Boltzmann distribution
Aug. 23 • Energy of harmonic oscillator PH Notes None Dilemmas
• Equipartition
• Specific heat of solids
• Blackbody radiation

Quantization of normal modes

• Wave equation
Prob. Set 1
• Normal modes of cavity
Aug. 30 Notes Blackbody
• Periodic boundary conditions
due Sept. 10
• Counting modes
• Planck law

Other early evidence for quantum behavior

Sept. 6
• Photoelectric effect
Prob. Set 2
• Ritz principle
Monday Notes Otherevidence
• Bohr model
Sept. 6 is due Sept. 15
• Motion of wave packet
Labor Day
• Electrons as waves

Schrödinger equation I

• Dynamics of Schrödinger’s ψ-fctn.

Prob. Set 3
• Spherically symmetric potential (H- Notes,
Sept. 13 SchroedingerI
atom) Chs. 1, 2
due Sept. 22
• 1D simple harmonic oscillator
• Particle in electromagnetic field

Schrödinger equation II

• Probabilistic interpretation of ψ-fctn. Notes, Prob. Set 4 SchroedingerII

Sept. 20 • Fourier transform Ch. 1,2
• Measuring a particle’s momentum due Sept. 29
• Uncertainty principle

Operator formalism I

• Momentum operator
• Expectation values Notes,
Sept. 27 OperatorI
• Inner products Ch. 3
• Hermitian adjoint
• Eigenstates and eigenvalues
 Operator Formalism II
Prob. Set 5
• Completeness Notes,
Oct. 4 Operator II
• Measurement Ch. 3
due Oct. 11
• Parity

Friday, Oct. 8 Test 1 on 1st 6 weeks - - -

Hilbert space and matrix mechanics

• Dirac’s bra and ket notation Prob. Set 6

Notes,
Oct. 18 • Postulates and probability HilbertI
Ch. 3
• Position representation due Oct. 18

Angular Momentum I

• Orbital angular momentum

operators
• L-eigenvalues from ladder
operators Notes,
Oct. 25 None AMI
• Eigenvalues from Schr\"odinger Ch. 4
Eqn
• Commutation rels. -- spherical
potential
• L generates rotations

Angular momentum II

• Central forces & pseudopotential Prob. Set 7

Notes,
Nov. 1 • H-atom bound states AMII
Ch. 4
• QM 2-body problem due Nov. 1
• Reduction to 1-body problem

Friday Nov. 5 Test 2 on next 4 weeks - -

Spin I
Nov. 8
• Electron spin
Prob. Set. 8
No class • Pauli spin matrices Notes,
SpinI
Nov. 12 • 2 spin-1/2 particles Chs. 4,5
due Nov. 8
• Many particles
(Homecoming) • Electron magnetic moment, precession

Spin II
Nov. 15 Prob. Set 9
• Absprption Notes,
SpinII
• Resonant scattering Chs. 4,5
due Nov. 15
• t-matrix
 Measurement I
Nov. 22
• Superposition
No class Wed. • Collapse of wave function - None Measurement
or Friday • Role of observer
(Thanksgiving)

Measurement II
Nov. 29 Prob. Set 10
• Superposition -
• Collapse of wave function due Nov. 29

Friday Dec. 3 Test 3 on spin - - -

Dec. 6 Review - None
Dec. 16 Final exam (comprehensive)