MP363 - Quantum Mechanics I

Autumn of 2020   [semester 1 of 2020-21]

Lecturer:   Masud Haque   (haque@thphys.nuim.ie)


Lectures and Tutorials

Tutor:   Aonghus Hunter-McCabe  


Problem sets


Handouts: some notes/comments

A listing of the basic rules (`postulates') of quantum mechanics.

The formal definition of hermitian conjugates.

Averaging continuous vs discrete variables.

A discussion of one way to think of wavefunctions as vectors.

Probability densities versus probability amplitudes versus just probabilities.

Measurement of a spin-1/2 object.


Scanned lecture notes

Scanned lecture notes, part A.

Scanned lecture notes, part B.

Scanned lecture notes, part C.

Scanned lecture notes, part D.

Scattering off a negative potential step.

Scanned lecture notes, part E.

Scanned lecture notes, part F.


Textbooks and other Sources

Quantum mechanics is counter-intuitive. There will be confusing aspects; you will need to invest time and effort to clear up these confusions.

Do not expect to get comfortable with QM unless you do a fair amount of reading and problem-solving.

It is strongly recommended that you work through one or more texts. Working through Prof. Nash's lecture notes is an absolute minimum. It would be a very good idea to read a couple of sections every week.
Additional texts are listed below, and there are links to lecture notes etc. There are many textbooks on introductory quantum mechanics (e.g., carried by the Maynooth library, physically and as e-books). Textbooks have differences in ordering and notation, but you should benefit by reading any text.

Please let me know if any of the links below are broken.

Overviews of Introductory Quantum Mechanics:

Dirac notation (bra-ket notation) and properties of bra's and ket's:

Please get comfortable with this mathematical formulation. Chapter 2 of Nash notes introduces most of the notation. Here are some more references:

Spin-1/2 systems:

This topic is not covered in Nash's notes. We will use the spin-1/2 system for many examples; so it is important that you get familiar through other sources. Some links below.

Postulates of Quantum Mechanics:

Not covered in Nash's notes. The numbering of postulates varies (is not standardized), but each treatment covers very similar statements.

The Dirac delta function:

Sources for other topics:

Textbooks:

There are many textbooks available on introductory quantum mechanics. I list some sources below.
(I omit publisher and year of publication: the author and title should be enough to identify each textbook.)