Quantum Physics 1    2015-2016

 

Overview of homework and study material

for all tutorial sessions and lectures

 

(version of 21 Oct. 2015, this is the final version for this year)

 

 

Book

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

By D. J. Griffiths

2nd edition

 

All problem sets that were handed out in class can be found as a pdf file on the Quantum Physics 1 web pages at http://www.quantumdevices.nl/teaching/ under PROBLEM SETS.

 

 

This list also defines what needs to be studied for the final exam.

The mid-term exam (toets), is about all that is covered during the first 3 weeks of the course.

 

We distinguish between study material and reading material.

Study material is what you must know for the exam.

Reading material is additional interesting material, but the contents are not in a direct way needed for your exam preparation. It is very useful to read while the course is given for developing your insight and broader understanding, and you should definitely do so if you are serious about developing yourself into a good physicist.

 

Extra study material

As you can read below, almost all of Chapter 1-5 and the Appendices A1-A6 of the Griffiths book are study material. However, there are 3 more topics that really belong to the contents of the course Quantum Physics 1, but they do not appear in this part of the book. These topics you must therefore study from extra handouts and the lecture slides. The course website provides links to these extra handouts, and all lecture slides.

These extra topics are (also study material):

Extra topic 1 (week2): The 5 postulates of quantum physics, and the central role for the eigenvalue equation for operators. Use the lecture slides of the 1st lecture of week 2 to study this topic.

Extra topic 2 (week 2): Double-slit quantum interference. Handout of week 2 (chapter III-1 from the book The Feynman lectures), and the slides of the 2nd lecture of week 2.

Extra topic 3 (week7): A more detailed treatment of identical particles and exchange (handout week 7).

 

 

 

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Homework and study material for the 1st week of the course

(31-Aug-2015  -  4-Sept-2015)

 

Study material

Chapter 1 - All sections.

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the first werkcollege

Chapter 1  -   1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.7, 1.18

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege

Problems W1.1 –W1.3 will be handed out in class.

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training):

from the book Chapter 1   -  1.5, 1.8, 1.9, 1.11, 1.14, 1.15, 1.17

 

 

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Homework and study material for the 2nd week of the course

(7-Sept-2015  -  11-Sept-2015)

 

 

Study material

Chapter 2, sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 (but the details of the raising and lowering operators, and all of section 2.3.2, can be treated as reading material until it comes back in the 8th week of the course).

Extra handout from the Feynman Lectures Vol. III, chapter 1 (copies will be handed out, or copy can be picked up in the hall next to room 140 in building 13, or print this pdf   http://www.quantumdevices.nl/teaching/Feynman_Part3_Chap1.pdf ).

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book Chapter 2  -   2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.8 and 2.9

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problems W2.1 – W2.5 (hand out).

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training):

from the book Chapter 2   -  2.2, 2.5a-c (hint: draw the state for n=1, n=2), 2.6, 2.7, 2.15

 

 

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Homework and study material for the 3rd week of the course

(14-Sept-2015  -  18-Sept-2015)

 

 

Study material

Chapter 2, section 2.4 and Eqs. [2.111]-[2.113] (in section 2.5, definition and properties of the Dirac delta function).

Chapter 3, sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.6.

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

Reading material

Appendices from the Cohen-Tannoudji Book.

If you later in your life want or need to study quantum mechanics more thoroughly, or if you are now frustrated by some slightly superficial or hand-waving treatment in the Griffiths book or Liboff book, this is a VERY GOOD BOOK for further studies.

I almost always found that this book presents it complete and exactly correct (and thus sometimes in fact easier to follow).

At the link below here I only provide the Appendices, which provide for our course a better basis for

1) Definition and role of Fourier transform

2) Definition and role of Dirac delta function

3) Role of Hamiltonian and Lagrangian in classical mechanics, which can be used for a generalization of Newton’s classical equations of motion.

LINK:   http://www.quantumdevices.nl/teaching/CohenT_Appendices.pdf  .

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book Chapter 2  -   2.18, 2.19 (just use the result stated in problem 1.14. if you did not yet make that problem), 2.21 and from Chapter 3  -   3.1, 3.3, 3.22

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problems W3.1 – W3.5 (hand out) and from the book Chapter 3  -  3.5, this is the minimal set you need to do. Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training):

from the book Chapter 2  -  2.20, and from Chapter 3  -  3.2, 3.4, 3.21, 3.23 (work this problem also out by using a matrix representation that uses the basis that is spanned by the vectors |1> and |2>), 3.24.

 

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Homework and study material for the 4th week of the course

(21-Sept-2015  -  25-Sept-2015)

 

 

Study material

Chapter 3, sections 3.3, 3.4, 3.5.

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book (Griffiths 2nd Ed.) Chapter 3  -  3.7, 3.13, 3.17, 3.31.

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problems W4.1 – W4.4 (hand out), and from the book Chapter 3  -  3.14, 3.15, 3.38, this is the minimal set you need to do.

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training):

from the book Chapter 3   -   3.8, 3.10, 3.12, 3.27.

 

 

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Homework and study material for the 5th week of the course

(28-Sept-2015  -  2-Oct-2015)

 

Study material

Chapter 4, sections 4.1, 4.2.

Appendix sections A1, A2, A3, A4 (check it, most should be known from linear algebra and Chapter 3).

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book (Griffiths 2nd Ed.) Chapter 4  -    4.1, 4.3, 4.7.

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problem W5.1 (hand out), and from the book Chapter 4   -   4.2, 4.13, 4.16, 4.45 (for solving the integrals, use tables of standard integrals, as provided in the problem set, or in some versions of the book on the inside-back-cover page).

This is the minimal set you need to do.

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training): from the book Chapter 4   -   4.14 (has overlap with W5.1), 4.15, 4.17.

 

Note: for this week the problem set is less work than for weeks 6, 7, and 8 of the course. So, this is a good week to rehearse or catch up on questions you still have on weeks 1 – 4, or to already practice some final exam problems (see course web site).

 

 

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Homework and study material for the 6th week of the course

(5-Oct-2015  -  9-Oct-2015)

 

Study material

Chapter 4, sections 4.3, 4.4.

Appendix sections A5, A6 (check it, most should be known from linear algebra and Chapter 3).

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

 

Reading material

none

 

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book (Griffiths 2nd Ed.) Chapter 4  -    4.19, 4.27, 4.29, 4.31, 4.35.

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problem W6.1 – W6.5   (hand out), and from the book Chapter 4   -   4.25, 4.32, 4.34.

This is the minimal set you need to do.

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training): from the book Chapter 4   -   4.18.

 

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Homework and study material for the 7th week of the course

(12-Oct-2015  -  16-Oct-2015)

 

Study material

Handout on Exchange and identical particles

( http://www.quantumdevices.nl/teaching/ExchangeNote.pdf ).

[Study the handout before section 5.1]

Chapter 5, sections 5.1, 5.2.

Chapter 2, again section 2.3 (harmonic oscillator).

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

 

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book Appendix chapter  -    A.25.

From the book Chapter 5  -    5.4, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10.

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problem W7.1, W7.2   (hand out),

and from the book Chapter 5   -   5.2 (just use the results of 5.1 as listed in the problem, making 5.1 is optional), 5.5, 5.12  (W7.1 replaces 5.6). This is the minimal set you need to do.

Other good problems that we selected (we advise you to make these for the topics where you need or like to do extra training): from the book Chapter 5   -   5.1.

 

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Homework and study material for the 8th week of the course

(19-Oct-2015  -  23-Oct-2015)

 

Study material

Chapter 2, section 2.3 (repeat) 2.5, 2.6 (wave mechanics, delta potential, scattering, finite quantum well).

Chapter 5, sections 5.3, 5.4.

Contents and slides of the hearing lectures.

Further study guide for sections 5.3 and 5.4: In our study program the contents of these two sections also appears in the courses Solid State Physics and Thermal Physics / Statistical Mechanics. Hence, there is no need to study these two sections in full detail (treat them in part as reading material). From these section you must understands how the treatment of electrons in a solid state material has its foundation in the particle-in-a-box system that we did study in our course. What you must know (study material) on this topic are the lecture slides about it (this week), you must fully understand problem W8.3.
What you further must know from these sections is: the role of the Pauli exclusion principle in a solid, the concepts Fermi energy, energy bands and bandgap (in particular Fig. 5.7), black-body radiation, and the simple problems from the book you must make (see below).

 

Reading material

none

 

Problems

Homework, to be made before the werkcollege:

From the book (Griffiths 2nd Ed.) Chapter 5  -    5.15, 5.16, 5.27, 5.28, 5.31.

 

Problems to work on during werkcollege:

Problems W8.1 – W8.4 (hand out, W8.4 extends 2.10 from the book),

and from the book Chapter 2   -   2.33, and from Chapter 5   -   (5.7 + 5.22), 5.29, 5.31, 5.32.

This is the minimal set you need to do. Other good problems that we selected:

from the book Chapter 5   -   5.17, 5.18, 5.19, 5.21.

 

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