PHYS 486 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Schedule
The table below shows the topics we will cover in the course.
Exact lecture dates for the topics may still shift, though.
Last updated: Aug 22, 2024.
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The reading assignments are strongly recommended accompanying reading to the lectures. They refer to chapters in Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd Ed.
Lecture notes are available for download after each lecture (up to a day or two delay). They are provided as a help in looking back what was covered, not to replace reading, or taking your own notes during lecture. They are my own notes for holding lecture, so I cannot give any guarantee for legibility, and they may contain mistakes.
To work with the code exercise notebooks for discussion, see the info on using Google Colab.
| Week | Date | Lecture Topics | Reading | Homework | Discussion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8/27 | Introduction (Notes) |
Preface; 1.1-1.5 | no HW | no Discussion | |
| 8/29 | Postulates and wave-particle duality (Notes) |
1.1-1.5 | ||||
| 2 | 9/3 | Schrodinger equation and wave function (Notes) |
1.1-1.5 |
HW 1 (due 9/10; Solutions) |
Disc. 1 worksheet (Solutions) Disc. 1 code exercise See the info on using Google Colab! |
|
| 9/5 | Solving the time-independent Schrodinger equation (Notes) |
2.1 | ||||
| 3 | 9/10 | Solving the time-independent Schrodinger equation
(Notes) |
2.2, 2.6 |
HW 2 (due 9/17; Solutions) |
Disc. 2 code exercise See the info on using Google Colab! |
|
| 9/12 | Solving the time-independent Schrodinger equation.
(Notes) Bonus: Finite well code exercise |
2.2, 2.6 | ||||
| 4 | 9/17 | Formalism (Notes) |
3; Appendix A |
HW 3 (due 9/24; Solutions) |
Disc. 3 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 9/19 | Formalism (Notes) |
3; Appendix A | ||||
| 5 | 9/24 | Formalism (Notes) |
3; Appendix A |
HW 4 (Practice exam; due 10/1; Solutions) |
Disc. 4 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 9/26 | No Lecture. Reading assignment: arXiv:1312.1463 | 3; Appendix A | ||||
| 6 | 10/1 | The Uncertainty principle (Notes) |
3; Appendix A |
HW 5 (due 10/8; Solutions) |
No discussion | |
| 10/3 |
MIDTERM 1 (Solution sketch) |
|||||
| 7 | 10/8 | Uncertainty relation wrap-up; the harmonic oscillator (Notes) |
2.3 |
HW 6 (due 10/15; Solutions) |
Disc. 5 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 10/10 | The harmonic oscillator, cont'd. (Notes) |
2.3 | ||||
| 8 | 10/15 | Quantum vs. classical harmonic oscillator (Notes) |
2.3 |
HW 7 (due 10/22; Solutions) |
Disc. 6 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 10/17 |
Interactive code-exercise (in-class) Harmonic oscillator notebook |
2.3 | ||||
| 9 | 10/22 | Quantum mechanics in 3D (Notes) |
4.1 |
HW 8 (due 10/29; Solutions) |
Disc. 7 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 10/24 | No Lecture | |||||
| 10 | 10/29 | Angular momentum and angular equation (Notes) |
4.1,4.3 |
HW 9 (due 11/5; Solutions) |
Disc. 8 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 10/31 | Angular momentum and angular equation (Notes) |
4.1,4.3 | ||||
| 11 | 11/5 | Radial equation and hydrogen atom (Notes) |
4.2 |
HW 10 (due 11/12; Solutions) |
No discussion | |
| 11/7 | MIDTERM 2 (Solution sketches) |
|||||
| 12 | 11/12 | Hydrogen atom (Notes) |
4.2 |
HW 11 (due 11/19; Solutions) |
Disc. 9 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 11/14 | Spin (Notes) |
4.4 | ||||
| 13 | 11/19 | Spin (Notes) |
4.4 |
HW 12 (due 12/3; Solutions) |
Disc. 10 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 11/21 | Interactive code-exercise (in-class) Hydrogen notebook |
|||||
| FALL BREAK | ||||||
| 14 | 12/3 | Identical particles (Notes) |
5.1 |
HW 13 (due 12/10 Solutions) |
Disc. 11 worksheet (Solutions) |
|
| 12/5 | Identical particles (Notes) |
5.1 | ||||
| 15 | 12/10 | Quantum information; entanglement and measurement | No HW | No Discussion | ||
| FINAL: 12/13, 1:30pm-4:30pm, 2100 Sidney Lu (the usual lecture room) | ||||||