PHYS 3317 - Applications of Quantum Mechanics

(PBS)

Fall. 3 credits.

Prerequisite: PHYS 3316. Prior exposure to programming (Matlab, Mathematica, and/or Python) would be beneficial.

E. Mueller.

Covers a number of applications of quantum mechanics to topics in modern physics. Uses the tools developed in PHYS 3316, and does not introduce new formalism. Topics include: the physics of single and multi-electron atoms, introduction to quantum statistics, band theory of solids, superconductivity, nuclear structure, elementary particle physics, and quantum computing. MATLAB, Mathematica, Python and related computational platforms will be used heavily in the course to gain insights into the behavior of quantum systems. Previous familiarity with programing is a plus, though the course is self-contained. Students will be giving in-class seminars that will survey many exciting topics of modern physics. Students will develop their order-of-magnitude reasoning, and their modeling skills.