spring semester .
Hours
Lecture:
Monday 11-12 in Melamed Auditorium
Exercise session (1 ,2 ):
Monday 9-11 or
Syllabus
The experimental basis of the quantum theory.
Wave-particle duality, diffraction; amplitudes and
probabilities.
Wave packets, uncertainty. The Schrödinger equation.
Free particle in one dimension. Operators: momentum and
energy.
The square well: bound states and scattering states,
reflection and transmission probabilities.
The harmonic oscillator: series solution.
Operators and observables; commutation relations and the
uncertainty principle; eigenvalues and eigenstates.
Back to the harmonic oscillator: ladder operators.
Three dimensions: central potential, angular momentum algebra.
The hydrogen atom: spectrum and wave functions.
Spin, magnetic moment, interaction with a magnetic field.
Text:
Other recommended books:
Further reading:
More advanced texts:
History:
The first week or two of the semester deal with the birth of
quantum theory. The first chapter of Gasiorowicz is good.
There is much more in Eisberg & Resnick and in Bohm.
I recommend highly the books of A. Pais:
It is interesting to read and compare the various editions of
Max Born's classic book on Atomic Physics .