This course is essentially a continuation of the P304
(Intro to Quantum
Mechanics) and will cover some of the most important
applications of the
quantum mechanics to problems in atomic, condensed matter
and elementary
particle physics. Much of the course will be devoted
to further development
of the formalism of QM with the particular emphasis on
the approximate methods
of calculation of the physical observables. These include
stationary and
time-dependent perturbation theory, variational method,
quasi-classical WKB
approximation, and the adiabatic approximation. Mastery
of these tools will then
allow us to tackle such problems as the spectrum of the
hydrogen atom in external
electric and magnetic fields, ground state the helium
atom, absorption and emission
of radiation by matter, and scattering problems. In short,
we shall have lot of fun!
Extensive use of mathematics is unavoidable when studying
the subject of
quantum mechanics, especially its applications to real
world physical systems.
Although we shall not need any truly complicated
math, working knowledge of
basic calculus and linear algebra will be expected and
demanded.
Course announcements: