This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

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Readings

G = Buy at Amazon Gasiorowicz, Stephen. Quantum Physics. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003. ISBN: 9780471057000.

FT = Buy at Amazon French, A. P., and Edwin F. Taylor. Introduction to Quantum Physics. New York, NY: Norton, 1978. ISBN: 9780393090154.

LEC # TOPICS READINGS
1 Overview, scale of quantum mechanics, boundary between classical and quantum phenomena FT, sections 1.1-1.6.
2 Planck's constant, interference, Fermat's principle of least time, deBroglie wavelength

G, section 1.1.

FT, sections 2.1-2.3.
3 Double slit experiment with electrons and photons, wave particle duality, Heisenberg uncertainty

G, section 1.4.

FT 2.10-2.11.

Buy at Amazon Feynman, Richard P., Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew L. Sands. The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Commemorative Issue. Vol. 3. Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1989, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780201510058.
4 Wavefunctions and wavepackets, probability and probability amplitude, probability density

G, sections 2.1-2.4.

FT, sections 2.1-2.2 and 2.7-2.11.
5 Thomson atom, Rutherford scattering FT, sections 1.1-1.12.
6 Photoelectric effect, X-rays, Compton scattering, Franck hertz experiment

FT, sections 1.1-1.12.

G, sections 1.2-1.3.
7 Bohr model, hydrogen spectral lines

G, section 1.5.

FT, sections 1.7-1.12.
8 Bohr correspondence principle, shortcomings of Bohr model, Wilson-Sommerfeld quantization rules

G, section 1.5.

FT, sections 1.7-1.12.
9 Schrödinger equation in one dimension, infinite 1D well

G, sections 3.1-3.3.

FT, sections 3.3-3.10.
  In-class exam 1  
10 Eigenfunctions as basis, interpretation of expansion coefficients, measurement

G, sections 3.4 and 5.1-5.2.

FT, sections 3.4-3.7.

Feynman, Richard P., Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew L. Sands. The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Commemorative Issue. Vol. 3. Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1989, chapter 20. ISBN: 9780201510058.
11 Operators and expectation values, time evolution of eigenstates, classical limit, Ehrenfest's theorem

G, sections 5.3-5.5.

FT, sections 8.1-8.4.
12 Eigenfunctions of p and x, Dirac delta function, Fourier transform

G, section 3.5.

FT, sections 6.1-6.9.
13 Wavefunctions and operators in position and momentum space, commutators and uncertainty FT, sections 4.1-4.2 and 8.1-8.10.
14 Motion of wavepackets, group velocity and stationary phase, 1D scattering off potential step

G, sections 2.2 and 4.1.

FT, sections 8.7-8.10 and 9.1-9.3.
15 Boundary conditions, 1D problems: Finite square well, delta function potential

G, sections 4.1-4.3.

FT, sections 9.1-9.7.
16 More 1D problems, tunneling

G, sections 4.1-4.5.

FT, sections 9.1-9.5.
17 Harmonic oscillator: Series method

G, section 4.7.

FT, section 4.3.
  In-class exam 2  
18 Harmonic oscillator: Operator method, Dirac notation G, section 6.2.
19 Schrödinger equation in 3D: Cartesian, spherical coordinates

G, section 8.1.

FT, sections 5.1-5.7.
20 Angular momentum, simultaneous eigenfunctions

G, sections 7.1-7.2.

FT, sections 11.1-11.2.
21 Spherical harmonics

G, section 7.3.

FT, sections 10.1-10.7.
22 Hydrogen atom: Radial equation

G, section 8.2.

FT, sections 12.1-12.6.
23 Hydrogen atom: 3D eigenfunctions and spectrum

G, section 8.3.

FT, sections 12.1-12.6.
24 Entanglement, Einstein-Podolsky Rosen paradox G, sections 20.1-20.3.
  Final exam