Department of
Physics
Fall 2009 Prof. Carter Hall Physics 401
Title: Quantum Physics I:
Introduces some quantum phenomena leading to wave-particle duality. Schroedinger
theory for bound states and scattering in one dimension. One-particle Schroedinger equation and
the hydrogen atom.
Prerequisite:
PHYS273.
Corequisites:
PHYS374 and MATH240.
Instructor: Prof. Carter Hall, Room
2220B, Phone: 5-6103, e-mail: crhall@umd.edu.
Office Hours:
By appointment. Also feel free to drop by my office. If I'm there, I'll be
happy to talk to you.
TA: Haitan
Xu, haitanxu@umd.edu, x5-5982
Schedule:
Three meetings weekly: M,W,F........
10:00 am - 10:50 pm (PHYS 1201)
W.................11:00 am - 11:50 pm (PHYS 1201)
Text:
We will not closely
follow any single book. Officially, however, the textbook for the course will
be David Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0-1-3111892-8 (any other edition of
Griffiths is also acceptable). Griffiths does not fully cover all of the topics
that we will discuss in class, but his textbook is a good place to start
learning quantum mechanics.
Two other good textbooks are Richard Liboff, Introductory Quantum Mechanics, and Robert Eisberg and Robert Resnick,
Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles. These books have more worked examples than
Griffiths, and they cover more material.
A very different perspective on quantum
mechanics is provided by the Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 3. Feynman
reverses the order in which quantum mechanics is usually presented, saving the
wave mechanics of Schoedinger until the end. Feynman
describes many interesting quantum mechanical systems which we won't have time
to cover in class.
Homework:
There will be a total of
11 homework assignments. The homework assignment will be posted on the course
website each Thursday, and will be due in class at 10:00 am the following
Wednesday. It is the student's
responsibility to check the website for the assignment each week.
We will work some of the homework problems
on the board in second session on Wednesday (11:00 - 11:50 am). Therefore no
late homework will be accepted.
Also, No make-up homework will be
accepted, but the lowest two homework grades will be dropped when your final
grade is calculated.
Exams: We will have two in-class mid-term exams on September 30th and November 11th. You will have from 10:00 to 11:50 am to complete the exams. The final exam will take place on Saturday December 19th, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am in PHYS 1201.
Dropping
the Course:
Note: the last day to drop without a “W”
is September 14th. The last day to drop
with a "W" is November 9th.
Grading:
Two mid-term exams: 40% total
Final exam: 30%
Homework: 30%