PHYS 487 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

PHYS 487 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

 

Schedule

The reading assignments refer to chapters in Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd Ed. Exact lecture dates for the topics may shift as we go through the course. Computational assignments are found here.

Lecture notes for each week's lectures will be posted Wednesday or Thursday. They are provided as a help in looking back what was covered, not to replace reading, or taking your own notes during lecture. Use them at your own risk; they may contain typos.

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Week Date Lecture Discussion Homework Reading
1 08/24 Review of Phys 486 No Discussion    
08/26 Symmetries and Transformations in Quantum Mechanics 6.1, 6.2
2 08/31 Symmetries and conservation laws 

Discussion 1
Solution

HW1 (due 9/8)

solutions

  
09/02 Symmetries and conservation laws 6.3--6.5
3 09/07 Labor Day

Discussion 2
Solution

HW2 (due 9/15)

solutions

6.6, 6.8

4.4.3
09/09

Addition of angular momentum
4 09/14

Addition of angular momentum 

Discussion 3
Solution

 HW3 (due 9/22)

solutions

4.4.3
09/16 Time-independent perturbation theory I 7.1, 7.2
5 09/21 Time-independent perturbation theory II

Discussion 4
Solution

HW4 (due 9/29)

solutions

 7.1, 7.2
09/23 Degenerate perturbation theory 7.2
6 09/28

Relativistic effects in the hydrogen atom

Discussion 5
Solution

 

Practice problems for MT 1

HW5 (due 10/13)

solutions

 7.3.1
09/30

Synthesis and review

Clebsch-Gordan tables
7 10/05  Midterm 1, solutions

(No discussion)

 

 

  
10/07 Spin-orbit coupling 7.3.2
8 10/12 Zeeman effect 

Discussion 6
Solution

HW6 (due 10/20)

solutions

 7.4
10/14 Hyperfine splitting  
9 10/19 The variational principle

Discussion 7
Solution

HW7 (due 10/27)

solutions

 8.1,8.2
10/21 The helium atom 8.3, 8.4
10 10/26 Time-dependent Hamiltonians

Discussion 8
Solution

HW8 (due 11/3)

solutions

 11.1
10/28 Time-dependent perturbation theory 11.1, 11.2
11 11/2 Emission and absortion of radiation

Discussion 9
Solution

HW 9 (due 11/17)

solutions

Practice problems for midterm II

 11.2, 11.3
11/4 Spontaneous emission, review 11.4
12 11/9

Midterm 2, solutions

(No discussion)

 

 11.5
11/11 Adiabatic approximation
13 11/16 Adiabatic theorem 

Discussion 10
Solution

HW 10 (due 12/1)

solutions

 11.5
11/18 Geometric phase, coupling to E&B fields 4.5
14 11/24 Thanksgiving break      
11/26 Thanksgiving break
15 11/30 Aharanov-Bohm and Landau levels

Discussion 11
Solution

HW 11 (due 12/9)

solutions

 4.5
12/02 Landau levels 5.3.1
16 12/07 Bloch sphere and density matrices Discussion 12 practice problems for the final 5.3.2
12/09 review
  12/10   Reading Day

 

  
  12/17

Final exam: 1:30-4:30 pm, place TBA