Physics 4851/6850 Quantum Mechanics
Winter 2018

Instructor: S. H. Curnoe

The topics are:

1. Tensor product of state spaces; matrix representations of kets and operators
2. Entanglement
3. Operators: functions of operators, unitary operators
4. Density operator: pure states and statistical mixtures of states; thermodynamic equilibrium
5. von Neumann entropy and entanglement entropy
6. Time evolution operator
7. Schrodinger, Heisenberg and interaction pictures of QM
8. Berry's phase
9. Gauge transformations; Aharanov-Bohm effect
10. Rotations; brief description of SU(2) and non-Abelian gauge theories
11. Space and time translation operators; space inversion
12. Time reversal and unti-unitary operators; application to angular momentum; Kramers degeneracy
13. Identical particles: exchange degeneracy, permutation operators; symmetrisation postulate for bosons and fermions
14. Occupation numbers, occupation number kets
15. Fock space; creation and annihilation operators
16. Propagators (Green's functions); retarded propagators
17. Path integrals

Class schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30-11:45

Textbooks: Quantum Mechanics, vols. 1 & 2 by C. Cohen-Tannoudji, B. Diu and F. Laloe, Quantum Mechanics by A. Messiah, Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems by Fetter and Walecka


This file created November 27, 2006; last updated on January 4, 2018.