PH-305 Quantum Mechanics-I
- Historical motivation: wave-particle duality, photo-electric effect, instability of atoms, black body catastrophe.
- Observables and operators, postulates of mechanics, measurement problems, the state function and expectation values, Schrödinger wave equation.
- Time-independent Schrödinger equation and one-dimensional problems, stationary states, superposition principle, free particles, infinite and finite square well, harmonic oscillator, and delta-function potential.
- Hilbert space, Dirac notation, linear transformations, discrete and continuous basis vectors, hermitian and unitary operators.
- Compatible observables, commutators, uncertainty principle, minimum uncertainty states.
- Time development of state functions, symmetries and conservation laws, conservation of parity, operators for time and space translations.
- Waves incident on potential barrier, reflection and transmission coefficients, WKB method.
- Quantum mechanics in three-dimensions, cartesian and spherical forms of Schrodinger equation, separation of variables.
- Rotational symmetry, angular momentum as a generator of rotations, spherical harmonics and their properties. Completeness and orthonormality properties.
Recommended texts:
- Introductory Quantum Mechanics, by Richard L. Liboff, publisher: Addison Wesley; 4th Edition, (2002).
- Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by David J. Griffiths, publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition (2005).
- Quantum Physics by Stephen Gasiorowicz, publisher: Willey International, 3rd Edition
.