PHYS 307: Computational Physics Lab
(Quantum Mechanics)

Course Instructor (Winter 2008)
Prof. Steve McMillan


  Lectures:     Tu 3:30 - 5:20 pm, Disque 704
  Office:       Disque 610
  Phone:        (215) 895-2723
  Fax:          (215) 895-5934
  e-mail:       steve (at) physics.drexel.edu


Course Overview

This is the fourth in a series of hands-on ``computational labs'' designed to complement the traditional ``lecture/lab/recitation'' Physics instructional sequence. It is intended to be taken after PHYS 305 (Computational Physics II) and concurrently with PHYS 327 (Quantum Mechanics II). Students will be introduced to basic scientific programming techniques and problem-solving strategies, as applied to problems in quantum mechanics (see course outline). Some of the techniques used in the course will rely heavily on material presented in PHYS 105 and PHYS 305.

Topics

  1. Finding the roots of algebraic equations
  2. Time-independent Schrodinger equation: bound state problems
  3. Boundary value problems
  4. Heisenberg representation: basis expansions
  5. Application to bound-state problems
  6. Time-dependent Schrodinger equation
  7. First-order perturbation theory (if time).

Text

There is no set text for this course. Much of the computational material will be drawn from the text Numerical Recipes in C, by W. Press, S. Teukolsky, W. Vetterling, and B. Flannery (1992, Cambridge University Press). Some material will also be distributed via the course web site. Also, it probably won't hurt to have your Quantum Mechanics textbook handy!

Evaluation

Grading will be based on homeworks completed during the quarter (80%) and on a longer final homework project (20%). There will be no mid-term and no final examination.

Course Outline