PHY2201 QUANTUM MECHANICS I

This course treats the inadequacies of Classical Mechanics in describing atomic and subatomic phenomena at the microscopic scale. It covers Dirac bra-ket notation, wave functions of particles in the different potentials and operators. It also treats the quantization of nature, and develops the formalism required in the solution of Schrodinger’s equation for one dimensional potential problems including the one dimensional harmonic oscillator
 

Course Objectives
At the end of the course the student should be able to

• Identify the limitations of classical physics at the microscopic scale
• Derive the expression of the quantized energy levels of the hydrogen atom using the Bohr model
• Use Born’s interpretation of the wave function to compute the expectation values of observables
• Expand a given function in terms of a complete set of eigen functions
• Solve Schrodinger’s equation for 1D potentials

Expected Learning outcomes
On completion, successful students will be able to

• Explain the failures of classical mechanics that led to evolution of quantum mechanics
• Derive the quantization of energy levels of the hydrogen atom using the Bohr model
• Explain wave particle duality and state the Sommerfeld-Wilson quantization rule
• Compute the expectation values of observables using Born’s interpretation of the wave function
• Solve Schrodinger’s equation for 1D potentials
•  Apply Series method, Operator method, Dirac notation to harmonic oscillators