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Winter 2024 Class Schedule

Winter 2024 class Schedule

Course Title Instructor Day/Time

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

PHYSICS 412-2 Quantum Mechanics Pallab Goswami TuTh 12:30PM - 1:50PM
PHYSICS 414-1 Electrodynamics Michael Schmitt TuTh 8:00AM - 9:20AM
PHYSICS 416-0 (or MAT SCI 401 in fall Yr1)* Introduction to Statistical Mechanics Anupam Garg TuTh 11:00AM - 12:20PM

 

* If student chooses to take MAT SCI 401 in fall Yr 1, they should pick a comp. or exp. methods of AP course or an elective instead of PHYS 416 in winter Yr1.

Winter 2023 course descriptions

PHYSICS 412-1,2 – Quantum Mechanics

First quarter: Vector spaces and linear operators, postulates of quantum mechanics, observables and Hermitian operators, state vectors and quantum dynamics, stationary states, bound states, the harmonic oscillator, statistical interpretation and the Uncertainty Principle, symmetry and conservation laws, quantization of angular momentum, intrinsic spin, the Stern-Gerlach experiment, spherically symmetric potentials.

Second quarter: Feynman's path integral formulation, the classical limit, Schroedinger's wave equation, electromagnetic potentials, Aharonov-Bohm effects, Landau levels, Coulomb potential, approximation methods, variational principles, bound-state perturbation theory, Dirac's theory of the electron, electron spin, Dirac-Pauli equation, magnetic moment of the electron, fine structure of hydrogen, hyperfine interactions.


PHYSICS 414-1 – Electrodynamics

Electrostatics, boundary-value problems, Green's functions, multipoles, electrostatics of macroscopic media, conductors and dielectrics, magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves and gauge transformations, conservation laws.

PHYSICS 416-0 – Introduction to Statistical Mechanics

Statistical mechanics and probability. Microstates and macrostates. Thermodynamic limit. Ensembles: microcanonical, canonical, grand canonical. Classical ideal gas: Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Quantum gases: Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions. Thermodynamic potentials. Interacting systems. Phase diagrams and phase transitions.

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