Quantum Mechanics Assignments
Oberlin College Physics 312
Fall 2023
This World Wide Web page written by
Dan Styer,
Oberlin College Department of Physics and Astronomy ;
http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/QM/Assignments/assignments.html;
last updated 17 November 2023.
Quantum Mechanics home page
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Unless otherwise noted, these problems appear in my draft textbook
The Physics of Quantum Mechanics.
Assignment 1: (Due Wednesday, 13 September.)
- There are quite a few problems in this assignment, but each one is pretty short.
- Problem 3.11: The trace
- Problem 3.12: The outer product
- Problem 1.2: Exit probabilities
- Problem 1.5: Tilted analyzer loop
- Problem 1.6: Three analyzer loops
- Problem 1.7: Bomb-testing interferometer
Model Solutions 1:
Assignment 2: (Due Wednesday, 20 September.)
- Problems 3.1 through 3.4, inclusive: Photon polarization
- Problem 3.13: Pauli matrix algebra
Model Solutions 2:
Assignment 3: (Due Friday, 29 September.)
- You may want to read pages 1 through 70 of Daniel T. Gillespie,
A Quantum Mechanics Primer, at
this link.
Caution: Gillespie treats only systems with an infinite number
of basis states, he does not distinguish between a state |ψ> and
its representation ψ(x), and he uses the notation (φ,ψ)
for what Dirac would call <φ|ψ>.
- (Problems below from the version of
The Physics of Quantum Mechanics
dated 22 September 2023.
- Exercises 3.5 ("Prove the Schwarz inequality"), 3.10 and 3.11 ("Eigenproblem for functions
of operators").
- Exercises 4.3 ("Interpretation of amplitude squared as a probability"),
4.4 ("Mean values"), 4.10 ("Measurement example"), 4.12.
Model Solutions 3:
Assignment 4: (Due Friday, 6 October.)
- Take home exam. Topics: The phenomena of quantum mechanics: quantization, interference,
and entanglement. Mathematical tools: amplitude, states, outer products, operators.
Formalism: linear algebra, formal statements.
- Sample exam (PDF)
- Model solutions for sample exam (PDF)
Model Solutions 4:
Assignment 5: (Due Friday, 13 October.)
- Problem 5.3: Ammonia molecule: position of nitrogen atom
- Problem 5.4: Ammonia molecule in an electric field
Model Solutions 5:
Fall Break
Assignment 6: (Due Friday, 27 October.)
- Physics of QM problems 6.6 through 6.10, inclusive.
Model Solutions 6:
Assignment 7: (Due Friday, 3 November.)
- Physics of QM problems 8.2 through 8.5, inclusive.
Model Solutions 7:
Assignment 8: (Due Friday, 10 November.)
Model Solutions 8:
Assignment 9: (Due Friday, 17 November.)
- Physics of QM (version of 10 November 2023) problems
10.2, 10.3, and 10.4.
Model Solutions 9:
Assignment 10: (Due Friday, 1 December.)
- Physics of QM problems 11.2, 11.3, 11.5, and 11.6.
Model Solutions 10:
Assignment 11: (Due Wednesday, 8 December.)
- Physics of QM problems 13.1, 13.2, and 13.3.
- Physics of QM problem 14.1.
(You should also look at, but not work, problem 14.4, "Virial theorem".)
Model Solutions 11:
Final Exam: