| Unit name | Quantum Physics 301 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHYS32011 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Nick Brook |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
The award of 120 credit points of units at level I comprising programme in Physics, Physics with Astrophysics, a joint honours programme in Mathematics and Physics or Physics and Philosophy, or a Chemical Physics programme. |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Physics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Dirac's formulation of Quantum Mechanics. Brief review, using Dirac notation, of complex linear vector spaces, operators, eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Postulates of quantum mechanics, the measurement process. Operators with continuous spectra of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Connection with the wave-mechanical formulation of quantum mechanics. Position and momentum representations of the wave-function. Solution of the harmonic oscillator using ladder operators as an illustration of operator methods. Angular momentum operators: raising and lowering operators. Pauli matrices and electron spin. Addition of angular momentum. Spin singlet and triplet states of two spin � particles. Spin orbit interactions and atomic fine structure. Hyperfine structure and Lamb shift (briefly). Perturbation theory (time-independent) in the non-degenerate case. Examples: the perturbed harmonic oscillator and the induced electric dipole moment of an atom. Second-order perturbation theory. Perturbation theory in the degenerate case. Example: the Stark effect in excited states of the hydrogen atom. Time-dependence. An example: two-state systems. The Schr�dinger and Heisenberg equations of motion. Time-dependent perturbation theory. Fermi's Golden Rule. Example: electromagnetic transitions in atoms. Selection rules and forbidden transitions. Absorption, stimulated and spontaneous emission.This is a pre-requisite for the Level M PHYSM0100 Quantum Mechanics 401.
