8.04 Quantum Physics I
Spring 2015
Professor : Matthew J Evans, Paul L Schechter, Vladan Vuletic, Barton Zwiebach
TA: Paolo Glorioso
Lecture: TR11-12.30 (3-270)
Information:
Who Should Take 8.04
8.04 is a first introduction to quantum mechanics aimed at students with a good grasp of Newtonian mechanics, E&M and waves at the level of 8.01, 8.02 and 8.03. While the topic is not hard, developing an intuition for quantum phenomena demands concerted effort.
Prerequisites
Students registering for 8.04 must have completed 8.03 (or 6.013)
and 18.03 (or 18.034) with grades of C or higher.
Exceptions to this policy will require the explicit
permission of Prof. Evans before the end of the first week of
classes.
Stellar Web Page
All course-related documents (such as the syllabus,
problem sets and solutions, practice exams, announcements) will be
distributed electronically via the course webpage. Students should
check this page regularly for updates and announcements. Students
can also send comments to the teaching staff anonymously, using the
form provided on the web page.
Grading
Grades can be viewed using the secure Gradebook
link (sidebar).
The final grade for the course will be based on the following
equation:
Final Grade = 0.75
* Exam Average + 0.2 * PSet Average + 0.05 *
Clicker Average
where
Exam Average = 0.2 * Exam 1 + 0.3 * Exam 2 + 0.5 * Final Exam
Your lowest Pset score will be dropped. Late Pset's
are not accepted!
Your clicker score is based on the fraction of clicker questions you answer, not how often you get the answer right. This is designed to encourage attendance and participation.
Note: Requests for re-grading of pset
or exam problems must be made within 7 days after the
assignment/exam is handed back.
Clickers
Several classes in physics and other departments use an interactive
response system to ask students questions during class. Students
enter their answers using an RF response card made by Turning
Technologies. Each student will need to buy one of these
"clickers", which will be available at the COOP. These
units can also be used in other courses at MIT, and the COOP will
offer a buy-back program.
Once you have bought your clicker and know your recitation number, please enter the ID of your clicker here.
Recitations
times and locations:
-
R03 Prof. Schechter MW10 in 26-204
-
R04 Prof. Schechter MW11 in 26-204
-
R05 Prof. Vuletic MW1 in 26-302
-
R06 Prof. Vuletic MW2 in 26-302
Recitation section assignments may also be changed using the Sections or Membership sidebar links.
Office Hours (see Staff List on sidebar)
Announcements
Study Materials: Solutions Posted
I have posted all of the solution sets that I have for the various practice exams on the Materials page. The formula sheet for the final is also there.
Your clicker scores and pset grades should all be approved and in the gradebook now. If you find any obvious errors or omissions, please email Paolo (pset scores) or me (clicker score).
Also, don't forget to do the course evaluation! (This must be done before the final.)
See you on Monday,
Matt
Announced on 16 May 2015 11:22 p.m. by Matthew J Evans
Office Hours with Prof. Evans, and Study Materials Posted
I'll hold additional office hours tomorrow (Wednesday) 3-4pm in NW22-245.
I have also posted a bunch of study material. The " Quick Control Questions" were written by Prof. Vogelsberger last year, and the " Long Answer Practice Questions" are from Prof. Adams. Last year's final is this year's Practice Final; of the bunch, this one will be the most similar to your final, though it will not have as many multiple choice questions this year. You should save the Practice Final for a time when you have a couple of hours and a quiet place to take it as a mock exam.
Solutions to the practice exams will be posted later this week.
Best,
Matt
Announced on 12 May 2015 3:00 p.m. by Matthew J Evans
Changed office hours for the weeks of 4/27 and 5/4
in the next two weeks (i.e. the weeks starting 4/27 and 5/4) the office hours of Paolo Glorioso will be replaced by additional office hours by me. Since all current office hours are on Monday, the additional office hours will be on Thursdays, 1-2pm. I also welcome other office hours made by email appointment.
Vladan
Announced on 27 April 2015 9:05 a.m. by Vladan Vuletic
Final Exam Scores and Drop Day
It is drop day, and many of you may be asking yourself what grade you can expect in 8.04. I did a little algebra on the score equation:
Final Grade = 0.75 * Exam Average + 0.2 * PSet Average + 0.05 * Clicker Average
where Exam Average = 0.2 * Exam 1 + 0.3 * Exam 2 + 0.5 * Final Exam
to answer the frequently asked question "how well will I need to do no the final to get an A (or B or C)??"
Start with the assumption that the grade boundaries will be close to 90-80-70, realizing that this could be off...
Final Exam = 2.66 * (Class Score) - ( 0.53 * Pset + 0.13 * clicker + 0.4 * (Exam 1) + 0.6 * (Exam 2) )
So, if you want a final score of 90% (A- ?), and you think your pset average at the end will be 95, and your clickering has been 80%, and you got 83 and 85 on your first 2 exams...
Final Exam = 2.66 * 90 - (0.53 * 95 + 0.13 * 80 + 0.4 * 83 + 0.6 * 85) = 94.45
you will need to get 95% on the final.
If, on the other hand, you aim for a final score of 80% (B- ?), with the same assumptions:
Final Exam = 2.66 * 80 - (0.53 * 95 + 0.13 * 80 + 0.4 * 83 + 0.6 * 85) = 67.85
you will need to get 68% on the final.
I hope this helps!
Matt
Announced on 23 April 2015 5:28 p.m. by Matthew J Evans
Spherical Coordinates
Prof. Schechter has gently pointed out to me that both my lecture and my notes were wrong about spherical coordinates. I'm not sure how I bungled this so badly, both in the presentation and the content, but it clearly needed fixing.
New notes for lecture 16 are now posted. They should match Griffiths (section 4.1) and Wikipedia. The Laplacian I wrote was correct, and I added a couple of other common forms of the Laplacian in spherical coordinates to the notes for reference. If you have a minute, you can verify that they are all the same by repeated application of the product rule.
We will be using this in lecture on Thursday...
Best,
Matt
Announced on 21 April 2015 6:58 p.m. by Matthew J Evans
