Physics 32300 Quantum Mechanics for Electrical Engineers Fall 2018
Instructor: Prof. Lia Krusin-Elbaum
CCNY Physics
Center for Discovery and Innovation, CDI 11384;
lkrusin@ccny.cuny.edu
Course Schedule G-section → Mon, Wed, 5 to 6:15 PM in MR-417N
M-section → Tue, Th, 11 AM to 12:15 PM in MR-418N
Office hours By appointment, Tuesdays 3:30-5:30pm
Prerequisites: Phys 207-8, Math 391-2
Exams: Small quizzes (announced in advance), midterm, and final exam
Course grade based on:
Quizzes, homework, class participation – 20%
Midterm exam – 30%
Final exam – 50%
Attendance: Required for passing the course.
Course outline:
1. Historical perspective, basic observations, problems with classical physics
2. Wave functions, observables and Schrödinger equation
3. One-dimensional problems: potential wells, barriers, tunneling
4. Quantum formalism, Dirac notation
5. Operator methods and the harmonic oscillator
6. Angular momentum and the hydrogen atom
7. Two-level systems
8. Perturbation theory
9. Identical particles, spin and statistics
10. Bell’s theorem, quantum communication
11. Special topics: topological orders, adiabatic motion and Berry phase, Hall effects
Textbook: Quantum Mechanics: An Accessible Introduction by Robert Scherrer
(Pearson/Addison Wesley, 2006)
Other books:
• J. Taylor, C. Zafiratos and M.A. Dubson, Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Benjamin-Cummins, 2003) – more elementary
• A.P. French and E.F. Taylor, An introduction to Quantum Physics (Norton, 1978) – similar level, more coverage of fewer topics
• D.J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (Benjamin-Cummins, 2004) – slightly more advanced theoretical treatment
• D. Park, Introduction to the Quantum Theory (McGraw-Hill, 1992) – slightly more advanced, broader coverage.
• R. Shankar, Principles of Quantum Mechanics (Springer, 1994) – popular advanced book.
Course objectives: After successfully completing this course, students should be able to
• Understand the nature of quantum mechanical states.
• Solve 1-d barrier problems.
• Use the creation/annihilation operator formalism.
• Understand the spectrum of hydrogenic atoms.
• Understand the distinction between bosons and fermions.
• Do simple perturbation calculations.
• Appreciate the significance of Bell’s theorem.
• Appreciate current problems in complex quantum systems.
Last Updated: 08/22/2018 12:11