Syllabus

The goal of this course is to introduce Quantum Theory and its application to the description of atoms and molecules and their interactions with other molecular systems and electromagnetic radiation. Quantum Theory involves a mathematical formulation and a physical interpretation. The interpretation establishes the correspondence between the objects in the mathematical theory (e.g., functions and operators) and the elements of reality (e.g., observable properties of real systems). Although there are several possible interpretations of the same mathematical theory, this course will focus on the so-called Orthodox Interpretation developed in Copenhagen during the first three decades of the 20th century.

The official textbook for this class is:

R1: "Quantum Mechanics" by Ire N. Levine (Prentice Hall).

However, the lectures will be heavily complemented with material from other textbooks including:

R2: "Quantum Theory" by David Bohm (Dover),

R3: "Quantum Physics" by Stephen Gasiorowicz (Wiley),

R4: "Quantum Mechanics" by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (Wiley Interscience),

R5: "Quantum Mechanics" by E. Merzbacher (Wiley),

R6: "Modern Quantum Mechanics" by J. J. Sakurai (Addison Wesley),

Students are encouraged to read the book Thirty Years that Shook Physics by George Gamow (Dover), during the first month of classes. The book greatly complements the lectures with an entertaining layman's description of the historical development of Quantum Theory, including the experiments that motivated the development of the theory and many personal anecdotes.

All these references are on reserve at the Kline library (KBT) to allow everyone equal usage.

The lecture notes are online at http://xbeams.chem.yale.edu/~batista/vvv/index.html

References to specific pages of the textbooks listed above are indicated in the notes as follows: R1(190) indicates ``for more information see Reference 1, Page 190''.

Furthermore, a useful mathematical reference is R. Shankar, Basic Training in Mathematics. A Fitness Program for Science Students, Plenum Press, New York 1995.

A useful search engine for mathematical and physical concepts can be found at

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/

Grading

There will be no final exam for this class.

The final grading evaluation is the same for both undergraduate and graduate students:

homework (25%),

three mid-terms (60%) on 10/02/03, 11/04/03, and 12/04/03

three quizes during lecture hours on random dates (15%).

Homework includes exercises described in the lecture notes and computational assignments. Note that some exercises are inserted in the description of the specific topics to facilitate finding the relevant material in the lecture notes, while other exercises are outlined in problem sets due 10/02/03, 10/16/03, and 10/28/03, respectively. Exercises inserted in the lecture notes that precede a problem set are due the same date as the problem set. However, students are encouraged to hand in their solutions as soon as they have them ready to avoid homework accumulation.

Students are encouraged to read the lecture notes ahead of the lectures and solve the inserted problems while studying the lecture notes.

Quizes on random lectures will include either material from previous lectures or general questions about the material to be covered in that specific lecture.

Contact Information

Office hours will be held at SCL 239, Monday and Wednesday 4:00pm-5:00pm.

You can also send me email to victor.batista@yale.edu, or call me at (203)432-6672 if you have any question.

History of Quantum Mechanics