Physics 314: Quantum Mechanics II

Spring 2019

Lectures: MWF, 12.00-12:50 p.m. in Small 233

Instructor: Irina Novikova

 

 
Office: Small 251
 
E-mail: ixnovi[at]wm.edu

 

 
Office hours: Thursday 10-11am, Friday 11am-12pm
 
Telephone: (757) 221-3693

 

Web-site: http://www.physics.wm.edu/~inovikova/phys314/phys314.htm

Grader: Yiyu Zhou

 

 

 
Office hours (grading questions only): by appointment 
     E-mail: yzhou11[at]email.wm.edu

Course overview:  This course is a continuation of our study of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. We will explore more advanced techniques and study specific examples from atomic, solid state, and nuclear physics. Over the course of the second semester, we will work through part II of the text book, including Perturbation Theory, Variational Principle, Identical Particles, Scattering, and other advance topics.

See Course Schedule for a detailed schedule of the covered material and problem set assignments. Reading the appropriate sections of the textbook before the lectures over that material is strongly recommended.

Pre-requisites: Modern Physics (PHYS 201) and Classical Mechanics (PHYS 208) are prerequisites for this course, as is a strong command of the material from the first semester of quantum (PHYS 313). We will make extensive use of calculus (so you should have taken MATH 111,112 and 213 (or 212)), as well as some aspects of Linear Algebra and Ordinary Differential Equations. The needed topics from the these latter subjects will be introduced and reviewed as needed, however students who have taken, or are taking MATH 211, MATH 302 or PHYS 301, will find that those courses are useful.

Required textbook: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by D. Griffiths (2nd ed.). This is the same textbook that was used in PHYS313.

Homework:  Homework assignments will be posted once a week on the course website. For full credit, assignments must be turned in on their due date, which almost always be on a Monday. Late assignments will be accepted until the Friday of that week, but the grade will be reduced by 50%, unless you informed be beforehand, and we made some prior arrangements. You will get the most out of the course if you make a serious effort to do the assignments completely on your own, consulting with me or other students or on-line materials only when you are seriously stuck. While you may discuss the homework problems with other students, the final write-up must be your own work.

Grades: In addition to the homework, there will be two in-class tests, and an in class final exam. If you know you will miss a test due to a university-sanctioned event, please notify me by email prior to the exam. If you are ill on the day of the exam, please contact me as soon as possible to make other arrangements. A makeup exam may be administered.

Course grade will be based on the following distribution:

Homework

25%

Midterm tests

20% each

Final exam

35%

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following approximate grading scale:

A: 90-100% B: 80-89% C: 70-79% D: 60-69% F: below 60%

Letter grade ranges will be further subdivided into + and - grades. Note, that this scale may be adjusted down depending on the overall class performance.

Important Dates:

  Last day of Add/Drop:        Friday January 28

  Last day to Withdraw:        Friday March 15

  Final Exam:                        Monday May 6 at 9am

  In-class Tests:                    Friday February 15 and Friday April 5 

Electronic Access: This syllabus, the course schedule, lecture notes, supplemental materials, and homework assignments and solutions will be posted on the course website. Homework assignments will be announced in class. Electronic access is not a substitute for coming to class to find out what is going on.

E-mail is my preferred method of communication, and I am usually fairly good about answering quickly, but please write your e-mails under assumption that it may take a day or two for me to reply. Also I would like to strongly discourage any physics questions over the e-mail: it is much more efficient to discuss those in person.

Accessibility:  William & Mary accommodates students with disabilities in accordance with federal laws and university policy. Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a learning, psychiatric, physical, or chronic health diagnosis should contact Student Accessibility Services staff at 757-221-2509 or at sas@wm.edu to determine if accommodations are warranted and to obtain an official letter of accommodation. For more information, please see www.wm.edu/sas.