Private Reading concerning
Quantum Mechanics and Electrodynamics
Oberlin College Physics 995F
Syllabus for Fall 2024
Learning goals: Through your work in this course, you will
- deepen your understanding of quantum mechanics concepts such as amplitude, wavefunction, eigenfunction and eigenvalue;
- acquire a firm understanding of electrodynamics concepts including the Maxwell stress tensor, the Lienard-Wiechert potentials, and relativistic electrodynamics;
- see why humans communicate over long distances using electrodynamic processes (radio or optical fiber) rather than electrostatic processes;
- abstract from nature to build mathematical models;
- find exact or approximate solutions to those mathematical models;
- invest those solutions with meaning to uncover insights about nature; and
- broaden, deepen, and sharpen your physical and mathematical problem solving skills,
particularly as regards (1) perturbation theory, (2) vector calculus, and (3) potentials.
Aldo Leopold wrote "We speak glibly of ... education, but what do we mean by it? If we mean indoctrination, then let us be reminded that it is just as easy to indoctrinate with fallacies as with facts. If we mean to teach the capacity for independent judgment, then I am appalled by the magnitude of the task." The ultimate goal of this course (and, I hope, of all your other courses) is to develop your capacity for thoughtful, informed, independent judgment.
Teacher: Dan Styer, Wright 215, 440-775-8183,
Dan.Styer@oberlin.edu
home telephone 440-281-1348 (9:00 am to 8:00 pm only).
Dan Styer's schedule (PDF).
Meeting times: Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 - 10:45 am, Wright Laboratory
seminar room (102A). Class continues after 10:45 am on Tuesdays as a conference session.
Course web site:
http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/PrivateReading.
I will post handouts, problem assignments, and model solutions here.
Textbooks:
- David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, third edition (2018).
- Daniel F. Styer, The Physics of Quantum Mechanics, version of 3 September 2024.
- David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, fourth edition (2012).
- (Errata for Griffiths's books.)
Topics:
The first half of this course treats atomic, molecular, and optical
physics, including:
- Atoms
- Diatomic molecules
- The quasiclassical (WKB) approximation
- Time-dependent perturbation theory
- The interaction of matter with radiation
The second half treats classical electrodynamics.
Exams, homework, grading:
Problem assignments will be due in class each Thursday.
When writing your solutions,
describe (in words) the thought that went into your work
as well as describing (in equations)
the mathematical manipulations involved.
Collaboration and references:
I encourage you to collaborate or to seek printed help in working the
problems, but the final write-up must be entirely your own: you may not copy
word for word or equation for equation. When you do obtain outside help you
must acknowledge it. (E.g. "By integrating Griffiths equation [5.96] I find
that..." or "Employing the substitution u = sin(x) (suggested by Carol
Hall)..." or even "In working these problems I benefited from discussions
with Mike Fisher and Jim Newton.") Such an acknowledgment will never
lower your grade; it is required as a simple matter of intellectual fairness.