Syllabus

C. Cohen-Tannoudji. Quantum Mechanics. Vols. 1 and 2 (required; useful for both 8.05 and 8.06; some students find it too encyclopedic; others find Griffiths too terse);

R. Shankar. Principles of Quantum Mechanics. (Chapter 1 is particularly useful for the first part of 8.05; copies will be provided; rest of the book is recommended);

J. J. Sakurai. Modern Quantum Mechanics. (Good treatment of the two-state system -copies of this section will be provided - but this text is somewhat more advanced than 8.05 in other respects);

The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Vol. 3 (a useful supplement for much of 8.05. Ch. 9 on the ammonia maser is particularly useful, and will be provided);

S. Gasiorowicz. Quantum Physics. (Familiar from 8.04).

If you would like to review material covered in 8.04, you should read Chapters 1-2 of Griffiths and Chapter 1 of Cohen-Tannoudji. If you want instead to review from a source that is familiar from 8.04, reread Chapters 2-5 of Gasiorowicz.

We do not accept problem sets after they are due. Period. However, your lowest problem set score will be discarded at the end of the semester; only the remaining n - 1 will be used in determining your grade.

1. General Structure of Quantum Mechanics. 8.04 was based primarily on wave mechanics. We review that foundation with the intent to build a more formal basis for quantum mechanics, emphasizing vector (Hilbert) space and Dirac notation. This will allow us to study quantum mechanics in many contexts more general than the "particle in a potential" problems familiar from 8.04. We introduce the two-state system (using the Stern-Gerlach experiments on spin-1/2 particles as an example) giving us a simple example of a Hilbert space which is in many ways quantum mechanics boiled down to its essentials.
   
   References: Griffiths, Ch. 3; Cohen-Tannoudji, parts of Ch. II, III, IV; V. Shankar, Ch. 1; Sakurai, Ch. 1; Supplementary notes by R. L. Jaffe on "Dirac Notation, Quantum States, etc."
   
   • Brief review of 8.04 treatment of a particle in a potential. State of a system, wavefunctions, probability interpretation, normalization. Operators, eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, completeness, orthonormality, measurement. Time development, the Schrödinger wave equation.
   • Stern-Gerlach experiment and spin-1/2 particles as an example of a two-state system. The operators S_xˆ, S_yˆ, S_zˆ as matrices. (These become our canonical example of operators acting in a finite dimensional Hilbert space.) (Sakurai 1.1, Cohen-Tannoudji IV)
   • Quantum states, the space of states, inner products. Hilbert space, bases. Dirac notation: kets, the dual space, bras. Wavefunctions in Dirac notation, inner product reconsidered.
   • Operators in Dirac notation, Hermitian operators and measurement of observables, completeness, expansion in eigenstates.
   • Unitary operators and change of basis.
   • Postulates of quantum mechanics.
   • Application to the operators xˆ and pˆ – constructing the operators, representations of states and operators in the basis of eigenstates of xˆ and pˆ. Infinite dimensional Hilbert space. Nondenumerable bases.
   • Commuting operators. Compatible observables. Complete sets of commuting observables. Noncommuting operators. Incompatible observables. Uncertainty relations.
   • Application of operator methods to the harmonic oscillator. Hamiltonian and raising and lowering operators, operator algebra. The ground state, the spectrum. Matrix representation of operators. (Griffiths 2.3; Cohen-Tannoudji V)
     
     
2. Quantum Dynamics. The time development of quantum systems from an operator point of view. Several different looks at the relation between classical and quantum dynamics.
   
   References: Sakurai 2.1-2.4; Cohen-Tannoudji, parts of III, IV, V.
   
   • Paths in the space of states, unitary time evolution, the hamiltonian as the generator of time evolution.
   • The Schrödinger equation and the time dependence of states in the Schrödinger picture.
   • Time dependence of operators, the Heisenberg picture, Ehrenfest’s equation, and the correspondence to classical physics.
   • The evolution of p and x in the harmonic oscillator.
   • Coherent states of the harmonic oscillator and the classical limit. Construction of, properties of, and time evolution of coherent states. Expansion of coherent states in energy eigenstates. (Cohen-Tannoudji V, Complement G_V)
     
     
3. Two-state Systems. As we have seen already, the simplest quantum systems are those where only two states are important. They illustrate many aspects of quantum dynamics, and have many interesting modern applications.
   
   References: Sakurai, 2.1; Cohen-Tannoudji, Ch. 4; Feynman, Ch. 9.
   Supplementary notes on Neutrino Oscillations and Kaon Physics.
   
   • The ammonia molecule. An example of dynamics in a two-state system with a time-independent Hamiltonian. The ammonia maser: dynamics in a two-state system with a time-dependent Hamiltonian. Connection to the double-well problem from 8.04.
   • Spin precession and NMR. Spin-1/2 particle in a static magnetic field. Eigenstates of Sˆ_n→ revisited. Unitary time evolution as precession among these states. Realization that this is the most general two state system with time independent Hamiltonian. Nuclear magnetic resonance: a time-dependent term in the Hamiltonian. Rotating frame. Resonance condition.
   • Neutrino oscillations. Two different bases related by a unitary transformation: weak interactions produce either |ν_e›  or |v_μ›; eigenstates of the Hamiltonian are |ν₁› or |ν₂›. Computation of the probability that an electron neutrino will be found in an initially purely |ν_μ› beam, as a function of the distance travelled. Experiments that use neutrinos from accelerators, the sun, and cosmic rays.
   • Kaon physics. Production of neutral kaons and absorption of neutral kaons in matter (one basis); decay of neutral kaons (another basis). Regeneration. φ decays and EPR correlations.
     
     
4. Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics and the Hydrogen Atom, Neglecting Spin. Operator mechanics and wave mechanics, now in three dimensions.
   
   References: Griffiths, Ch. 3, 4; Cohen-Tannoudji, VI, VII.
   
   • Schrödinger equation in three dimensions with central forces. Center of mass. Effective mass. Separation of variables.
   • Angular momentum operators, commutators, raising and lowering operators. Matrix representation.
   • Eigenvalues and eigenstates of angular momentum, wavefunctions, properties of spherical harmonics.
   • Absence of half-integer orbital angular momentum.
   • Review (from 8.04) of the radial wave equation, its solution, and the spectrum of atomic hydrogen and other one electron atoms. Atomic orbitals and their spatial shape. Spectroscopic notation.
   • Solving the radial wave equation using operator methods.
   • Particle in a general central potential. Bound states. Scattering states. Phase shift. Qualitative solution.
   • V = 0 as a central potential. Spherical Bessel functions.
   • Infinite spherical well. Finite spherical well.
   • Normal Zeeman effect.
     
     
5. Spin. Griffiths, Ch. 4; Cohen-Tannoudji, Ch. IX.
   
   • We revisit spin, now after having learned about angular momentum in more generality. Stern-Gerlach experiment, operator algebra of spin-1/2, Pauli matrices, rotation of spinors.
     
     
6. Addition of Angular Momentum. Griffiths, Ch. 4; Cohen-Tannoudji, Ch. X.
   
   • Semiclassical derivation of spin-orbit coupling; motivates need to consider J^→ = L^→ + S^→. Magnitude of energy splittings in hydrogen due to L^→ · S^→ coupling.
   • Alternative complete sets of commuting operators. Coupled and uncoupled bases. Addition of angular momentum as change of basis. Determination of what j’s are allowed for a given l and s. Determination of Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, properties of C-G coefficients.
   • C-G coefficients for L × (S = 1/2).
   • C-G coefficients for (S = 1/2) × (S = 1/2)
   • Spin and orbital angular momentum, angular momentum of several particles.
   • Hyperfine interaction in the ground state of the hydrogen atom.
     
     
7. Introduction to the Quantum Mechanics of Identical Particles. Griffiths, Ch. 5.1, 5.2, 6.3, 6.4; Cohen-Tannoudji, Ch. XIV.
   
   • N-particle systems.
   • Identical particles are indistinguishable.
   • Exchange operator, symmetrization and antisymmetrization.
   • Exchange symmetry postulate. Bosons and fermions.
   • Pauli exclusion principle. Slater determinants.
   • Non-interacting fermions in a common potential well.
   • Exchange "force" and a first look at hydrogen molecules and helium atoms.
   • Rotation states of the hydrogen molecule and the effects of the spin of the protons: ortho- and para-hydrogen.
     
     
8. Degenerate Fermi Systems and the Structure of Matter.
   
   Readings: Ch. 5.3; Cohen-Tannoudji, Ch. XI Complement F.
   • Fermions in a box at zero temperature: density of states, energy, degeneracy pressure.
   • White dwarf stars. Equation of state at T = 0, Chandrasekhar limit. Neutron stars.
   • A survey of matter at zero temperature as a function of pressure.
   • Electrons in metals: Periodic potentials, Bloch waves, band structure. Metals vs. insulators vs. semiconductors.
   • The Thomas Fermi model of degenerate fermion systems.
   • Application of Thomas Fermi to atomic systems.
     
     

Quantum Physics III (8.06) Spring 2003 Preliminary Outline

You should think of Quantum Physics II and III as a single, year-long, course. To that end, here is a list of topics that serves as a preliminary outline for 8.06. You will get a less preliminary outline at the beginning of next semester.

1. Interlude: Units. cgs units. Natural units.
   
   
2. Charged Particles in a Magnetic Field. The Landau problem. Gauge invariance and the Schrödinger equation. de Hass–van Alphen effect. Integer quantum hall effect. Aharonov-Bohm effect.
   
   
3. Time-independent Perturbation Theory. Degenerate and nondegenerate states. Simple examples. Fine structure of hydrogen. Hydrogen in a magnetic field. Hydrogen in an electric field. Van der Waals interaction between neutral atoms.
   
   
4. Variational and Semi-classical Methods. Ground state and first excited state of helium, via the variational method. Hartree and Hartree-Fock approximations. Atomic structure and the periodic table. Semiclassical wave functions. Tunneling. Bound states.
   
   
5. The Adiabatic and Born-Oppenheimer Approximations. Rotation and vibration of molecules. Adiabatic theorem. Spin in a time-varying field. Berry’s phase. Resonant adiabatic transitions and the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein solution to the solar neutrino problem.
   
   
6. Scattering. Cross-section. Scattering solutions to Schrödinger equation. Scattering amplitude. Optical theorem. Born approximation. Scattering from spherically symmetric potentials. Scattering from a charge distribution. Low energy scatttering. Method of partial waves. Phase shifts. Relation of scattering amplitude and cross section to phase shifts. Behavior of phase shifts at low energies. Scattering length. Bound states at threshold. Ramsauer-Townsend effect. Resonances.
   
   
7. Time-dependent Perturbation Theory. Transition probability. Adiabatic theorem revisited. Sinusoidal perturbations. Transition rate. Emission and absorption of light. Transition rate due to incoherent light. Fermi’s Golden Rule. Spontaneous emission. Einstein’s A and B coefficients. How excited states of atoms decay.
   
   
8. Symmetries in Quantum Mechanics.