8.04  Quantum Physics I

notes, comments on formula sheet etc.

Dear Class,
I have posted the review session notes from our final exam review last night. I apologize for the lateness but I had some scanner issues... a few pages may be missing a tiny bit off the edges, but everything is readable.
The one topic missing from the notes is the section on the 1-D potentials we covered and the harmonic oscillator and the way to sketch potentials and wave functions given one or the other. That is because these topics are thoroughly covered in the notes for the review of Exam 2 and that's a good place to look to go over those topics in particular.
Regarding a couple of questions I had about the formula sheet and whether there were any issues with the probability current or WKB formulas, they are both written correctly just in a slightly different form than you may be used to...The following note from Prof. Ashoori explains the differences:
I put the “i” in the denominator for the tunneling current. This reverses the sign, and I think that the way I have written it is correct.

For the WKB - this is explicitly for a tunnel barrier, and there should be no “i” in the exponent. Also note that the integral contains an absolute value of p. So, the argument of the exponential is real, as it needs to be.

It was great to see so many of you at reviews, lectures, office hours and on Piazza and I wanted to say thanks for a great term, I had a lot of fun as your TA and appreciate how much work and excitement you put into the class and the many great questions that taught me more about QM. Wishing you all good luck on your exam and hope you have a wonderful summer!!
Best,
Sarah

Announced on 25 May 2017  6:12  p.m. by Sarah R Geller

Note about HW 11 Solutions

Dear Class,
the solutions to problem set 11 have been posted. Please note that, since the problem set 11 problem 1 was a repeated problem from last weeks homework, the solutions for problems 2 and 3 are the first two problems on the PS and are labelled 1 and 2 in the homework. However, the solution for problem 4 is labeled as solution 4. Sorry for the numbering anomaly!
Good luck with your studying for finals!

Announced on 19 May 2017  11:47  p.m. by Sarah R Geller

Office Hours

Dear Class,

Sarah is slightly delayed so she will be holding her office hours at 6:45 pm today. Thank you.

Regards,
Tudor

Announced on 18 May 2017  6:29  p.m. by Tudor Cristea-Platon

Scope of the Final Exam

Some people have asked me about what they should study for the final exam. So, here is a quick overview.

I don't expect you to study the historical development of quantum mechanics - this won't be on the exam. It is possible, though, that questions involving physics concepts from early in the course (e.g. the Bohr Atom or Wilson-Sommerfeld Quantization) could potentially end up on the exam. However, the main focus of the exam will be on the material from AFTER the first exam. Moreover, I expect that there will be a bit more emphasis on the material since exam 2.

I hope this helps! Finally, I'd like to thank you all for a wonderful semester. It was an enormous pleasure to see your excitement and passion for the material. There were so many excellent and deep questions that students raised in lecture. It kept me on my toes, and it made teaching the class tremendous fun. Thanks also to Sarah, Tudor, and Profs. Gedik and England for all of their hard work.

Good luck on the final - and have a great summer!
Ray Ashoori

Announced on 18 May 2017  3:48  p.m. by Raymond Ashoori

Final Review Session time change and reminder

Dear Class,
so that all students who wish will be able to attend, I have moved the review session next week to 5:45 pm rather than 5:00 pm. The review will be from 5:45-7:15/7:30 in room 6-120 with a little extra time afterwards for questions, on Wednesday May 24th. Please bring your questions!
best,
Sarah

Announced on 17 May 2017  1:41  p.m. by Sarah R Geller