PHYSICS  448  HOME  PAGE
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 Instructor: 
Lynn Knutson
Office:  5203 Chamberlin
Secret Office:  1138 Chamberlin
Phone:  262-3096
email:  knutson@physics.wisc.edu
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Final Exam:
The final exam is scheduled for Wednesday December 17 at 12:25.  The exam room is B239 Van Vleck.  The exam will be conprehensive, but with more emphasis on material covered since the second midterm.  You are permitted to bring your formula sheets from exams 1 and 2 plus a new 5.5" by 8.5" (one side) sheet.  The final will count as 1/3 of your total grade. Here is a link to a practice final.   

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Exam 2 Information:
The second hour exam will be held in class on Monday November 24.  By now we have covered basically all of the first seven chapters of the text plus sections 1 and 3 of Chapter 9.  You are permitted to bring your formula sheet from exam 1 plus a new 5.5" by 8.5" sheet with formulas and other information.  Here is a link to a practice exam. 

Exam 2 Solutions
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Exam 1 Information:
The first hour exam will be held in class on Friday October 17.  The exam covers all of Chapter 1, all of Chapter 2 except 2.7, sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 3, and sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 4, plus various other topics such as kinetic theory and the Wilson-Sommerfeld Rules.  You are permitted to bring a 5.5" by 8.5" sheet with formulas and other information.  Here is a link to a practice exam.

Exam 1 Solutions

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Homework Assignments
Homework Solutions

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Formal Rules of Quantum Mechanics
Wilson-Sommerfeld Quantization Rules
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Table of Integrals
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Course Information:
  • GENERAL INFO:  Physics 448 is the first semester of a two-semester sequence that covers a variety of topics in quantum and atomic physics.  In the first semester we begin with a long section on quantum physics. In Physics 449 we will focus mainly on applications of quantum mechanics in atoms and other more complex systems.  Here is a more detailed list of topics that will be covered in the first semester.
    • A little kinetic theory
    Experimental evidence of energy quantization
    Old quantum theory
    deBroglie waves
    Wave packets and the uncertainty principle
    The Schrodinger wave equation
    Standing wave solutions and the energy eigenvalue equation
    Examples:
            Barrier penetration
            Bound states in a square well
            Harmonic Oscillator
    Operators, expectation values and momentum space
    Commutation relations and operator methods
    Formal postulates of QM
    Expansion of the wave function in terms of eigenstates
    Measurement theory
    Simultaneous eigenstates
    Three-dimensional problems
    Central forces and the angular momentum operators
    Hydrogen atom
    Introduction to Relativity in four-vector notation
  • HOMEWORK:  Homework assignments will normally be handed out each Wednesday, and homework papers will be collected the following Wednesday.  Students are permitted and encouraged to work together on homework assignments with the goal of learning from each other.  However, the homework paper you hand in must represent your own work.  Late homework will be accepted until noon Thursday with no penalty.  Homework solutions will be posted on the web.
  • EXAMS:  We will have two regular hour exams during the semester.  The exams will be held during the normal class period, with dates to be announced later.  The final exam will be held on Wednesday December 17 at 12:25 pm.
  • GRADING:  The final course grade will be based on the total number of points accumulated during the semester with 100 points for each of the two midterm exams, 150 points for the final, and 100 points for homework.
  • TEXT:  "Quantum Physics",  by Stephen Gasiorowicz.  The text will be supplemented with material from other sources.
    • Some useful References:
    J.D. McGervey -- Introduction to Modern Physics
    E.E. Anderson -- Modern Physics and Quantum Mechanics
    R. Resnick -- Introduction the Special Relativity
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