Graduate Quantum Mechanics II, Fall 2024

Basic info

Instructor: Prof. Seung-Sup Lee (이승섭), Department of Physics and Astronomy, SNU.

TA: Mr. Sanghyun Park (박상현), Department of Physics and Astronomy, SNU.

Class dates, time, and place: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 14:00–15:15; Rm. 105, Bldg. 56.

Course outline: Please check the course outline (updated on Sep. 04, 2024) for the details of the course. Please check the course outline regularly, since it will be updated from time to time; critical changes will be also announced via eTL.

Textbooks: 

• (Required) Jun John Sakurai and Jim Napolitano, Modern Quantum Mechanics (3rd Ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2020) (ISBN: 978-1-108-47322-4).
  For the first half of the semester, we will cover the topics in this book, often abbreviated to “S&N”. When we refer to sections, equations, figures, problems, etc. without specifying the source, they are assumed to be from S&N.

• (Optional, but recommended) Henrik Bruus and Karsten Flensberg, Many-Body Quantum Theory in Condensed Matter Physics: An Introduction (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004) (ISBN: 978-0-19-856633-5).
  Many lectures during the second half of the semester are based on this comprehensive textbook. While the lectures will be self-contained, interested students can refer to this text for further details. We recommend referring to the corrected version in 2016, which can be identified from the front page (not from the front cover).

Student Q&A forum: In this KakaoTalk chat (link), students can ask questions, answer them, and discuss any topic. You can join anonymously, but we recommend using your real name (a Korean name if you have one, or in the Roman alphabet if you don't). Feel free to Q&A in Korean!

Exam times and place: Mid-term on Oct. 29 (Tu), 19:00–22:00; final on Dec. 12 (Th), 19:00–22:00; Rm. 105, Bldg. 56.

Lecture materials

The list below provides the links to lecture notes, exercises, and their solutions. The lecture notes are numbered as Lxx.y (e.g., L02.1), where xx indexes a class within the semester and y indexes a topic within the class. The exercise sets are similarly numbered as Exx, and an exercise within a set as Exx.y.

Please refer to the course outline (see above) for the details: when lecture materials will be uploaded, how to prepare and submit exercise solutions, etc.

Please report if you find any mistakes or typos. Such reports will also count towards the evaluation!

[Class 04] Sep. 12 (Th)

• [L04.1] Energy shift and decay width (lecture note)
  1. "Slow-turn-on" method
  2. Energy shift and decay width

• [L04.2] Absorption and emission in a classical radiation field (lecture note)
  1. Absorption and emission rates
  2. Electric dipole approximation

• [E04] (exercise set; mistake fixed on Sep. 15)
  Deadline: Sep. 21 (Sa), 23:59

[Class 03] Sep. 10 (Tu)

• [L03.1] Interaction picture (lecture note)
  1. Recap: Schrödinger vs. Heisenberg picture
  2. Interaction picture
  3. Example: Rabi oscillations in a two-level system

• [L03.2] Time-dependent perturbation theory (lecture note)
  1. Transition amplitudes from the Dyson series
  2. Constant perturbation: Fermi's golden rule
  3. Harmonic perturbation: Stimulated emission and absorption

• [E03] (exercise set)
  Deadline: Sep. 16 (Mo), 23:59

[Class 02] Sep. 05 (Th)

• [L02.1] Zeeman effect (lecture note)

• [L02.2] Variational methods (lecture note)

• [E02] (exercise set)
  Deadline: Sep. 11 (We), 23:59

[Class 01] Sep. 03 (Tu)

• [L01.1] Fine structure in hydrogen-like atoms (lecture note)
  1. Relativistic correction to the kinetic energy
  2. Spin-orbit coupling
  3. Darwin term

• [E01] (exercise set)
  Deadline: Sep. 09 (Mo), 23:59