Browse Hierarchy SPA5319: Quantum Mechanics A

"This course aims to introduce the fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics from the beginning. By studying applications of the principles of quantum mechanics to simple systems the course will provide a foundation for understanding concepts such as energy quantisation, the uncertainty principle and quantum tunnelling, illustrating these with experimental demonstrations and other phenomena found in nature. These concepts are introduced and applied to systems of increasing (mathematical) complexity: (i)Infinite 1-D quantum wells. (ii)Finite 1-D quantum wells (introducing graphical solutions of transcendental equations). (iii)LCAO methods for modelling ions. (iv)Simple Harmonic oscillators (introducing Hermite polynomials and applying energy solutions to molecular vibrational spectra). (v)Beams of free particles, probability flux and reflection/transmission in stepwise varying potentials. (vi)Finite potential barriers and tunnelling, Tunnelling through arbitrary potential barriers (the Gamow factor), field emission and Alpha decay and tunnelling. The Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). (vii)The solution to the Hydrogen atom, including separation of variables, spherical harmonics, the radial equation and electronic energy levels and the quantum numbers n, l, ml and ms and resulting degeneracy. (viii)The treatment of angular momentum in quantum mechanics, its magnitude and projection along an axis. (ix)Introduction to first order, time independent, perturbation theory."