PHY 464: Quantum Mechanics I, Fall 2022



Instructors:   Prof. Thomas Barthel,
  Prof. Roxanne P. Springer
Lectures:   Mondays and Wednesdays 10:15-11:30am in LSRC A155
Office hours:   T. Barthel - Mon+Wed 11:30am-12:30pm in Physics 287,
  R.P. Springer - tba
Turorials:   Fridays 3:30-4:45pm in Physics 205
Teaching assistants:   Boyu Gao (Physics 076),
  Ana Luiza R. F. Ferrari (Physics 274A)
Grading:   problem sets (40%), midterm exam (20%), final exam (40%), class participation


Synopsis

This course provides a systematic introduction to quantum mechanics. We will first discuss a few interesting experimental observations that lead to the development of quantum theory and then go through the mathematical basis, the postulates of QM, and their interpretation. Considering different one-dimensional quantum systems, we will encounter phenomena like quantum tunneling and scattering. We will see further how higher-dimensional and composite systems can be described using tensor products. This allows us to understand the essential concept of entanglement as well as Bell inequalities. An important tool for the study of quantum systems is perturbation theory. We will discuss this technique for static problems, examples, and convergence properties. Similarly, we will learn perturbative and non-perturbative methods to study the dynamics of quantum systems. A discussion of symmetries will lead us to angular momentum and spin operators, and it will allow us to understand the electronic states of the hydrogen atom.

Some knowledge of linear algebra at the level of Math 216 (or Math 221) is needed. Please check back with the instructors if you had no prior exposure to QM (PHY 264). We will keep the course as self-contained as possible.


Lecture Notes

[Are provided on the Sakai site PHYSICS.464D.01D.F22.]


Homework

You are encouraged to discuss homework assignments with fellow students and to ask questions on the Sakai Forum or by email. 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.)
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 through Gradescope on the Sakai site PHYSICS.464D.01D.F22.]


Literature

The primary reading resource for the course is the textbook
  • Cohen-Tannoudji, Diu, Laloe "Quantum Mechanics", Wiley (1991, 1992)
Further recommended textbooks on quantum mechanics:
  • Shankar "Principles of Quantum Mechanics" 2nd Edition, Plenum Press (1994)
  • 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)
  • Schwabl "Quantum Mechanics" 4th Edition, Springer (2007)
  • Gasiorowicz "Quantum Physics" 3rd Edition, Wiley (2003)
  • Galindo, Pascual "Quantum Mechanics I & II", Springer (1991)


have a nice day!