8.06  Quantum Physics III

Final Exam Grades Available

Dear 8.06,

Your final exam grades are now available on Stellar. I have posted the final exam and solutions on Stellar as well.

This was a challenging exam, and overall I am very proud of your performance given the length and difficulty of the problems. The average grade was 130/180 with a standard deviation of 29 (72% +/- 16%). Many of you demonstrated real tenacity in tackling unfamiliar problems.

We will finalize and submit your letter grades tomorrow. Please check that all of your PSET scores are entered into Stellar, and tell me by 9am tomorrow (Friday) if there is an issue. For those of you who are eager to calculate your own grade, the grade boundaries will be roughly the same as the ones given in the syllabus.

It has been a great semester, and I want to thank you all for your enthusiasm in exploring the quantum world. I am particularly proud of your wonderful term papers and the wide range of physics you explored in the 8.06 Physical Review.

I wish you every success in your future endeavors, and have a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,
Jesse Thaler

Announced on 23 May 2013  5:03  p.m. by Jesse Thaler

8.06 Final Exam Tomorrow

Dear 8.06,

As I'm sure you all know, the 8.06 final exam is tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22) from 1:30 to 4:30 PM in Johnson Ice Rink.

There are two changes to the equation sheet which has been updated on Stellar. First, the exam will only have 8 problems (instead of 9). Second, by popular request, I have put the boundary conditions for ell = 0 scattering at the end of the partial wave section: "For $\ell = 0$ scattering, the boundary condition that determines the phase shift $\delta_0$ is \psi(r,\theta) = \frac{u_0(r)}{r}, \qquad u_0(r \rightarrow \infty) = \sin(kr + \delta_0)."

If you have last minute questions, I will be checking my email until 11am tonight. After that, no guarantees of a response, but I'll do my best to clear my inbox in the morning.

Sincerely,
Jesse Thaler

Announced on 21 May 2013  9:20  p.m. by Jesse Thaler

Evaluations and Old PSETs

Dear 8.06,

A final reminder to fill out course evaluation forms for 8.06 (http://web.mit.edu/subjectevaluation). The evaluations close at 9am tomorrow (Monday). Thanks to the 42% of you who have already provided input.

For those of you looking to pick up old PSETs (including PSET 9) or a copy of the 8.06 Physical Review, I have placed them in boxes outside of my office 6-318.

Best wishes on all your exams this week!

Thanks,
Jesse Thaler

Announced on 19 May 2013  7:56  p.m. by Jesse Thaler

QI + Office Hours Next Week

Dear 8.06,

For those of you looking at the final review notes, I wanted to remind you that this year, there *will* be a problem on quantum information (but not density matrices), and Prof. Harrow's notes and PSET 10 are the intended study tools for that problem.

We will have extended office hours next week to help you prepare for the final:

Mohammad: Monday, 11am-noon
Prof Harrow: Monday, 3pm-5pm
Prof Thaler: Tuesday, 10am-noon
Han-Hsuan: Tuesday, 2pm-3pm

We are all available via email for pressing questions.

Sincerely,
Jesse Thaler

Announced on 17 May 2013  3:37  p.m. by Jesse Thaler

Term Paper Grades Available

Dear 8.06,

Overall, I was extremely impressed by the quality of the term papers, and you can all be proud of achieving a deep understanding of an interesting topic in quantum mechanics.

By this time, you should have received an email from me with the grade and referee report prepared by your writing TA. If you did not receive an email (or received an email intended for someone else), please let me know. Any questions or concerns about your term paper grade should be directed to me. You may wish to check that the grade in Stellar is correlated with the grade in the email.

Now that we've given you feedback, it is time for you to give us feedback. Please take a moment to fill out the 8.06 course evaluation: http://web.mit.edu/subjectevaluation/ We really do value your input on all aspects of the course. Thank you to the 30% of you have already submitted evaluations; I hope that number increases by the Monday 9am deadline.

See you tomorrow at the review session!

Sincerely,
Jesse Thaler

Announced on 16 May 2013  5:15  p.m. by Jesse Thaler