PHY 465: Quantum Mechanics II, Spring 2017


Instructor:   Prof. Thomas Barthel
Lectures:   Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:05PM-4:20PM in Physics 130
Office hours:   Tuesdays 4:20PM-5:30PM and Fridays 11:00AM-12:00PM in Physics 287
Teaching assistant:   Moritz Binder (Physics 183)
Tutorials:   Fridays 4:40PM-5:55PM in Physics 299
Grading:   Problem Sets (40%), Midterm exam (20%), Final exam (40%)

Synopsis

In this course, we are taking a stroll through the fascinating world of quantum mechanics. Deepening the understanding of quantum systems, the course also prepares for studies of quantum optics, quantum information, condensed matter, and quantum field theory.

Starting from a reminder on the postulates of quantum mechanics and its mathematical basis, we will discuss the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics (due to Feynman), the semi-classical regime (WKB method), time-dependent phenomena and approximations, treatment and use of symmetries, the theory of angular momentum, scattering theory, and decoherence. Nice examples and exercises will be used to illustrate these topics. Depending on the available time, we may also address some of the following topics: Bell inequalities, aspects of quantum information theory such as quantum entanglement and quantum algorithms, and systems of identical particles (fermions and bosons).

Some basic knowledge of linear algebra will be needed. Knowledge corresponding to the course PHY 464 (Quantum Mechanics I) will be very useful, but we will try to keep the course as self-contained as possible.

Lecture Notes

[Are provided on the Sakai site PHYSICS.465.01.Sp17.]

Homework

You are encouraged to discuss homework assignments with fellow students. But the written part of the homework must be done individually and cannot be a copy of another student's solution. (See the Duke Community Standard.) However, you are allowed to work in groups of two. In that case, both partners still need to hand in a handwritten copy of their solution and should additionally always specify the name of their partner.
Homework due dates are strict (for the good of all), i.e., late submissions are not accepted. If there are grave reasons, you can ask for an extension early enough before the due date.

[Problem sets are provided on the Sakai site PHYSICS.465.01.Sp17.]

Literature

Although it does not cover all topics of the course, I recommend the textbook
  • Shankar "Principles of Quantum Mechanics" 2nd Edition, Plenum Press (1994)
Further reading material will be provided on the Sakai site. Here, a choice of very good textbooks on quantum mechanics and more advanced topics:

Textbooks on quantum mechanics.
  • Sakurai "Modern Quantum Mechanics", Addison Wesley (1993)
  • Le Bellac "Quantum Physics", Cambridge University Press (2006)
  • Ballentine "Quantum Mechanics", World Scientific (1998)
  • Merzbacher "Quantum Mechanics" 3rd Edition, Wiley (1998)
  • Cohen-Tannoudji, Diu, Laloe "Quantum Mechanics", Wiley (1991, 1992)
  • Schwabl "Quantum Mechanics" 4th Edition, Springer (2007)
  • Gasiorowicz "Quantum Physics" 3rd Edition, Wiley (2003)
  • Galindo, Pascual "Quantum Mechanics I & II", Springer (1991)
More on identical particles and second quantization in books on quantum many-body physics.
  • Negele, Orland "Quantum Many-Particle Systems", Westview Press (1988, 1998)
  • Stoof, Gubbels, Dickerscheid "Ultracold Quantum Fields", Springer (2009)
Quantum information and computation.
  • Nielsen, Chuang "Quantum Computation and Quantum Information", Cambridge University Press (2000)
  • Preskill "Quantum Computation", Lecture Notes (2015)
  • Wilde "Quantum Information Theory" 2nd Edition, arXiv:1106.1445 (2016)

have a nice day!