Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. identify and understand the kinds of experimental results which are incompatible with classical physics and which required the development of a quantum theory of matter and light;
2. interpret the wave function and apply operators to it to obtain information about a particle's physical properties such as position, momentum and energy;
3. solve the Schroedinger equation to obtain wave functions for some basic, physically important types of potential in one dimension, and estimate the shape of the wavefunction based on the shape of the potential;
4. understand the role of uncertainty in quantum physics, and use the commutation relations of operators to determine whether or not two physical properties can be simultaneously measured;
5. apply the technique of separation of variables to solve problems in more than one dimension and to understand the role of degeneracy in the occurrence of electron shell structure in atoms;
6. relate the matrix formalism to the use of basis states, and solve simple problems in that formalism;
7. design, set up and carry out experiments; analyse data recognising and accounting for uncertainties; and compare results with theoretical predictions.

Indicative Assessment

1. (i) MC questions (online): after most lectures there will be a series of exercises (multiple choice questions). You will in general have one go at each question and they should be done independently. The combined mark from all these exercises will form 10% of the mark. (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
2. (ii) Assignments (offline): There will be a total of 8 assignments that you will do throughout the course. These will be released on the Wattle site and will contribute 16% to your final mark. (16) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
3. (iii) Quiz (offline): At the end of each workshop there will be a short multiple choice quiz. These quizzes will serve as feedback as to how much of the workshop you have understood as well as confirming your workshop attendance. These quizzes will be worth a total of 8%. The idea of these quizzes is that you get some feedback of how you’re travelling throughout the course. (8) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
4. (iv) Mid-Term Exam (offline): There will be a mid-term exam — that will ensure you are keeping up with the course, it will be worth 20%. (20) [LO 1,2,3]
5. (v) Final Exam (offline): There will be a 3hr final exam, similar to previous years exams. Previous exams are available from the library. The final exam will be worth 30%, and will focus on the second half of the course, although concepts from the first part of the course will still be needed. (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
6. (vi) Labs (offline): 16% (16) [LO 7]

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Workload

The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:

Face-to face component which will consist of 1 x 1 hour and 1 x 2 hour workshop per week. 12 hours of labs scheduled over the semester.

Approximately 82 hours of self-study which will include listening/viewing the online lectures, preparation for the weekly online lectures, workshops/labs and other assessment tasks.

PHYS2013 (2nd year Quantum Mechanics) now follows the ‘flipped classroom’ model, that is, there are no lectures but instead short videos that convey the course content. After each of these videos there are a serious of multiple choice (MC) questions which are intended to test your understanding of the video content.

In this course you will learn how to perform calculations in quantum mechanics. This is best done in a weekly 2hr ‘workshop’ environment. A typical workshop consists of a problem sheet that is based on concepts of the weekly videos that the whole class works through. Discussion with other students at your table, about the problems, is encouraged, however, the real strength of the workshop is the student’s access to experienced tutors/lecturer (about 15 students per tutor for this course). These tutors will walk round the workshop answering questions about the problems and any other questions the student might have about the course. There will be NO assessment in these workshops (for this course), however attendance at the weekly workshop is compulsory. 

For 1 hour each week I will meet with the class and discuss concepts in QM. Since this is the combination of a lecture and a tute, I call this a Lute. The main reason for this hour is for discussion of the assignment problems (hints not direct answers) as well as other similar problems. This session will not be compulsory, accept when quizzes are held.

There are also 12 hours of lab over the semester.

Inherent Requirements

To be determined

Requisite and Incompatibility

Prescribed Texts

N/A

Assumed Knowledge

It is desirable that students take MATH2305 simultaneously with PHYS2013 unless they have previously completed MATH2305 or MATH2405, but it is not a course requirement.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links