Graduate Quantum Mechanics II

Welcome to the Physics 389L class, Graduate Quantum Mechanics (II).

In the Fall of 1997, there is one section of this course, unique #54910, taught by Dr. Vadim Kaplunovsky. This document is the syllabus for this section; future sections of this course may vary. (Indeed, the syllabus for the last spring's section was somewhat different.)

Course Content

Quantum Theory of Radiation:

Quantization of the electromagnetic fields; photons as particles; gauge invariance and interaction of radiation with matter; perturbative transitions and Fermi's Golden rule; phase space and decays; emission and absorbtion of light; selection rules; sum rules; scattering of light.

Theory of Scattering and Transition Processes:

Born approximation; scattering amplitude; Lippmann-Schwinger series; general quantum transitions, the S matrix and the Dyson series; the optical theorem for elastic and inelastic scattering; partial waves and phase shifts; Breit-Wigner resonances and meta-stable states; perturbation theory.

Second Quantization:

Identical bosons and fermions; Fock space; creation and annihilation operators for bosons and for fermions; second-quantized Hamiltonians and other operators; phonons and other quasiparticles; shell model, Fermi sea and the particle-hole formalism; superfluidity and superconductivity (if time allows); Dirac equation and positrons (if time allows).

Textbooks

The closest approximation this course has to a textbook is Quantum Mechanics by A. S. Davydov. This book is very solid and does cover much of the course's material in its own somewhat old-fashioned way. Also, it is a good reference book for many undergraduate-level or 389K-level subjects, in case you need to re-learn them in a hurry. I also recommend Advanced Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai for Scattering theory and Nuclear Theory by J. M. Eisenberg and W. Greiner for the second quantization of fermions and Radiation theory.

Homeworks and Grades

The grades for this course will be based 100% on homeworks; there will be no final exam or mid-term tests.

Generally, the homeworks will be assigned weekly and will be due a week later. Be warned: The homeworks will be very hard. If you start working on an assignment the day before it's due, you will not finish it in time.

Homeworks are essential for understanding the course material. Often, due to the time pressure, I will explain the general theory in class and leave the examples for the homework assignment; if you do not work them out by yourself, you would not really understand what I was talking about in class!

Logistics

Lectures

There will be two two-hour lectures each week, 4 hours/week altogether.

The first lecture was on August 27. Contrary to the published UT catalog, all subsequent lectures will be according to the following schedule:

The above schedule goes into effect on September 4 (Thursday). There will be no lectures on August 28 (insufficient notice for the new schedule) or September 1 (Labor day holiday).

Office Hours