PHYS3022 Applied Quantum Mechanics (2020-2021 Term 2)
 Course information  |  Notice board  |  Download area  |  Discussion forum  PHY Home Course Pages

PHYS3022 Applied Quantum Mechanics (2020-2021 Term 2)
(Download Area)


Class Notes [Front Matter]
  • Front Matter - Assessment Mode - TA contacts - Academic Honesty Announcement
  • Course Time Table - Lecture Hours - Exercise Classes - TA Consultation Hours
  • Course Learning Outcomes
  • AQM - Ch 0 - Introduction and Background Assumed
  • List of Books


  • Class Notes [Methods (mostly techniques of approximations) in QM]
  • AM Part 0 - Motivation and Why do we need approximations
  • AM Part 1 - Turning TISE into a Huge Matrix Problem
  • AM Part 2 - Variational Methods - The Theorem and How it works
  • AM Part 3 - Time-independent Perturbation Theory - 1st order correction to energy by argument
  • AM Part 4 - Time-independent Non-degenerate Perturbation Theory - up to 1st order
  • AM Part 5 - Non-degenerate Perturbation Theory up to 2nd order - Matrix viewpoint - Degenerate Perturbation Theory
  • Cross Reference - LMI Appendix A - TIme-dependent Perturbation Theory and Transition probability amplitude from initial to final states derived


  • Class Notes [Physics of Atoms - More on Hydrogen, Beyond Hydrogen and the Periodic Table]
  • AP I Part 1 - H-atom spectroscopic data - Questions to explore - External B-field and Zeeman Effect
  • AP I Part 2 - Spin Angular Momentum and Spin Magnetic Dipole Moment - Atomic states including electron spin
  • AP I Part 3 - General Angular Momentum in QM - Adding two angular momenta to form Total Angular Momentum - Spin Singlet and Spin Triplet
  • AP I Part 4 - Spin-Orbit Interaction and Forms of the Interaction Term
  • AP I Part 5 - Effects of Spin-Orbit Interaction in Atoms - Fine Structures
  • AP I Part 6 - Term Symbols are used in Data Tables and Comparing results with H-atom data
  • AP I Part 7 - The Zeeman Effects Revisited (Strong field and Weak field cases)
  • AP I Part 8 - Hyperfine Structure - 21 cm line of hydrogen - radio astronomy - references
  • AP I Extension - Frontier Topics using precise H-atom spectroscopy
  • AP II Part 1 - Multi-electron Atoms - many-electron QM problems that no one can solve
  • AP II Part 2 - Helium Ground State as a guiding light on handling electron-electron interaction and Reduction to approximate one-electron problem
  • AP II Appendix A - Atomic Units are often used in atomic and molecular physics problems
  • AP II Part 3 - Independent-Particle Approximation and Atomic States
  • AP II Appendix B - Idea of Hartree-Fock Self-Consistent Field Theory - One-electron energy levels of atoms
  • AP II Part 4 - Antisymmetric many-electron wavefunctions - Slater determinant - Pauli Exclusion Principle - Degenerate Pressure
  • AP II Part 5 - Helium Ground State is a Spin Singlet - Spin Triplet states in adding two spins
  • AP II Part 6 - Helium first excited state - Exchange Integral - Origin of Magnetism
  • AP II Part 7 - The Periodic Table - Electronic configurations of atoms - Hund Rules
  • AP II Optional Asides - Total Angular Momentum in atoms and Hund Rules


  • Class Notes [Atomic transitions, Light-Matter Interaction and Approximation (continued)]
  • LMI Part 1 - The problem of transitions - Electric Dipole Mechanism - Key result of transition problem amplitude from initial to final state
  • LMI Appendix A - TIme-dependent Perturbation Theory and Transition probability amplitude from initial to final states derived
  • LMI Part 2 (revised) - Seeing Absorption and Stimulated Emission from Schrodinger QM - Selection Rule and Energy Criterion
  • LMI Part 3 - From transition probability to transition rates of stimulated absorption and stimulated emission
  • LMI Part 4 - Einstein A and B Coefficients and Spontaneous emission rate and Life time of an excited state
  • LMI Part 5 - Metastable States and Stimulated Emission are crucial for LASER


  • Class Notes [Physics of Molecules]
  • MPI Part 1 - What is the Molecular Problem and Energetics
  • MPI Part 2 - Understanding the Difficultes of the Molecular Problem and Finding a way out
  • MPI Part 3 - The Born-Oppenheimer Approximation - The Big Picture - Do electronic part first and followed by nuclear motions
  • MPI Part 4 - Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO - MO) and Quantum Nature of Bonding - H2+ molecular ion as example
  • MPI Appendix A - H2+ molecular ion - LCAO-MO - Quantitative Treatment and Quantum Nature of Bonding


  • Class Notes [Miscellaneous Topics (Optional)]


    back-up category


    Supplementary Learning Materials


    Class Notes [Back Matter]


    Sample Questions for Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ1,2,3 for Week 2 (18 - 22 Jan 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ4,5 for Week 3 (25 - 29 Jan 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ6,7 for Week 4 (1 - 5 Feb 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ8,9,10 for Week 5 (8-11 Feb 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ11,12,13 for Week 6 (22 - 26 Feb 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ14,15 for Week 7 (1 - 5 March 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ16,17 for Week 8 (8 - 12 March 2021) Exercise Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ18,19 for Week 9 (15 - 19 March 2021) Exericse Classes
  • Sample Questions SQ20,21 for Week 10 (22 - 26 March 2021) Exercise Classes


  • Solutions to Sample Questions for Exercise Classes
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 1, 2, 3
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 4,5
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 6,7
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 8, 9, 10
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 11,12,13
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 14,15
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 16, 17
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 18,19
  • Solutions to Sample Questions 20,21


  • Problem Sets
  • Problem Set 1 (due 25 Jan 2020)
  • Problem Set 2 (due 10 Feb 2021)
  • Problem Set 3 (due 4 March 2021)
  • Problem Set 4 (due 18 March 2021)


  • Solutions to Problem Sets
  • Solutions to Problem Set 1
  • Solutions to Problem Set 2
  • Solutions to Problem Set 3


  • Other Learning Materials and Announcements


    Erratum (Corrected typos on pages of class notes)