Goshen College > Physics

Physics 313
Quantum Theory

Syllabus, Spring 2022-2023

• 11:00 am, MW, and (tentatively) 2:00 pm, Fridays in SC 203

Catalog description

A study of the quantum theory in the vector formalism of Dirac, Schroedinger and Heisenberg representations are considered. Applications to scattering, atomic physics and magnetism. Prerequisites: Phys 203-204, Math 213 or consent of instructor.

On the web

Instructor

Professor Paul Meyer Reimer
Sci 011   ·   +1.574.535.7318 (ofc)
paulmr@goshen.edu   ·   +1.574.312.3395 (cell)

I don't have fixed office hours. You are welcome to stop by my office (SC 011) any time! Here's my teaching schedule this term,

If you are off campus and want to make sure I'm available before coming to campus You may e-mail or text me to make a time to get together.

Do not worry that you're "bothering me" when you stop by! Every time a student stops by it makes a good impression on me, and I think "Oh, they are taking charge of their own learning, and are taking the class seriously!".

Overview

A study of the quantum theory in the vector formalism of Dirac. Schrödinger and Heisenberg representations are considered. We begin with 1-dimensional problems with the Schrödinger equation. We treat the full hydrogen atom problem, and angular momentum.

Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Phys 203-204 (General Physics); Math 213 (Calculus III)

Texts and Tools

Required

• David McIntyre, Quantum Mechanics, a Paradigms Approach, 2022 (Cambridge Press).
• CoCalc / Jupyter notebooks:

  Sign up for a (free) account using your GC e-mail address as your username. Use your GC username so I can easily add you to our class project.

• Desmos is a cloud-based graphing calculator. Sign up for an account. You can access it online or through their iPad app. There are straightforward ways to create graphs, fit functions, and save and share your work.

Grading

homework & quizzes	30%
problem writeups	15%
midterm exam	23%
final exam	30%
participation	2%

Total grade outcomes:

A/A- > 93/90%
B's 87/83/80%
C's 77/73/70%
D's 67/60%
F < 60%

I may adjust this scheme down a bit (e.g. 89% might end up being good enough for an A-), but I certainly won't adjust it up.

Homework

Working through the homework is perhaps more important for your learning than anything we do in class.

You will always write up the homework problems yourself. But please do work together with others in the class on the assignments. You may also consult other textbooks and the web.

You may even find a solution to some of the very problems in our textbook. But just as in a more writing-oriented class, * woe be unto you if you simply copy a solution that you find on the web, giving the appearance of it being your own work, when it's not.

Problem writeups

You will write up one problem. These should be ** or *** problems. Here is more information on the problem write-ups.

Disability accommodations

Goshen College wants to help all students be as academically successful as possible. If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor or Director of the Academic Resource and Writing Center, Lois Martin, early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. In order to receive accommodations, documentation concerning your disability must be on file with the Academic Resource and Writing Center, GL113, 535-7576, lmartin@goshen.edu. All information will be held in the strictest confidence. The Academic Resource and Writing Center offers tutoring and writing assistance for all students. For further information please see www.goshen.edu/studentlife/arwc/.

* Dean's Office statement on plagiarism

Papers you submit in this course will be checked for plagiarized material copied from the web, other student papers, and selected on-line databases. Cases of plagiarism are reported to the Associate Dean. Penalties for plagiarism are listed in the college catalog and range from redoing the assignment to dismissal from the college.

Schedule & Topics

9 January - 13 January	Stern-Gerlach experiments [1.1]
16 January - 20 January Monday 16 Martin Luther King study day - no daytime classes (evening classes meet) Tuesday 17 Drop-Add period ends 5:00 pm Wednesday 18 Aste*risky "*" can mean 'complex conjugate' or 'multiply'	Quantum State Vectors [1.2] Probability and measurement variation
23 January - 27 January	Probability and Quantum measurement [1.4] More than 2 states [1.5] Lab 1
30 January - 3 February Saturday 4 Science Olympiad	Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues [2.1] Operators and Matrices [2.2]
6 February - 10 February	Expectations and uncertainties [2.3]
13 February - 17 February	Energy and the Hamiltonian operator [3.1] Quiz 1 and Exam 1 Quantum Key Distribution
20 February - 24 February Tuesday 21 Schedule your midterm oral exam with me.	Time-dependent Schroedinger equation [3.2] Time-dependent probabilities: Spin precession [3.3] Neutrino oscillations
27 February - 3 March Monday 27 Midterm break (all week)
6 March - 10 March Friday 10 Goshen Conference on Religion & Science through March 12.	the EPR paradox [4.1] Quantum description of EPR [4.2] Bell's Inequality [4.3]
13 March - 17 March Thursday 16 Academic advising begins Friday 17 Last day to "W"ithdraw	Particles and Wave functions [5.1] Schroedinger equation [5.2] Normalization, time dependence [5.3]
20 March - 24 March	Infinite square well [5.4]
27 March - 31 March	Momentum / Uncertainty [5.5] Sketching solutions - intro to finite well [5.6] Finite square well [5.7]
3 April - 7 April Friday 7 Good Friday (no class)	Dirac delta function [5.8] Delta function potential [5.8dv]
10 April - 14 April Sunday 9 Easter Wednesday 12 Academic Symposium - no daytime classes	Free particle [6.1]
17 April - 21 April Friday 21 Last day of classes Please fill out a GC Course Evaluation.	Phase and group velocity Final exam
24 April - 28 April Monday 24 Reading day Tuesday 25 Exam week starts

Image credits

Cornell cat, Dartmouth College, Chemistry.