Homework 1. Due Friday, Jan 11 by 3 PM.

The goal of this assignment is to help focus your review and understanding of 1D quantum bound states and their time dependence. Please feel free and encouraged to post comments and questions here.
Problems 1-9 are really short. You can think of 1-4 as 4 parts of one problem, and 5-9 as 5 parts of a 2nd problem. 14 is the most important problem. Problems 1-11 are pretty much warm-ups for 14. Feel free to skip 12 (and 13) in order to get to 14 if you are running low on time.

PS. (1-10-12) We are going to set up a box in the physics department mailroom where you can turn in your homework up to 3 PM Friday.  Don't be late as the reader will come and pick it up just after the 3 PM deadline.

What this class is all about... & review of 1D quantum theory.

This class primarily focuses the phenomenology of quantum physics in 3-dimensions including:
1) the hydrogen atom,
2) quantum spectroscopy,
3) the periodic table,
4) molecular bonding,
5) metals, semiconductors and insulators,
6) statistical physics, lasers
7) other topics...

Understanding the low-energy states of the hydrogen atom will be the starting point for most of this material.  Some of the 1-dimensional(1D) quantum mechanics you studied in physics 101b will be important for this class. Of particular relevance are the bound states of 1D potentials, such as square wells and harmonic oscillators.  These are simple systems that share some characteristics with the hydrogen atom. Moreover, ways in which the hydrogen atom differs from these simple 1-dimensional systems, especially in terms of complexity and degeneracy, serve to emphasis the importance of symmetry and degeneracy in 3D quantum physics. Symmetry and degeneracy are the critical to understanding the Periodic Table.

I have prepared some short videos that review and summarize aspects of 1-dimensional quantum physics that are especially relevant. (The first one is a little rough in terms of pacing (slow) and "production values". I thought about redoing it, but after watching it I decided not to because I kind of liked the commentary in it (and wasn't sure I could reproduce that).)

Questions and comments are strongly encouraged.  All questions are welcome. The process of phrasing a question or comment to post may be of great value to you; your question or comment will also help others. I believe you will learn more and get more enjoyment from active participation. Please don't be shy. (PS. Please point out the error in the time-dependent terms in the 1st video.)