Quantum mechanics for scientists and engineers – open online lectures and courses
A complete set of online lectures and courses on quantum mechanics is freely available through this link
This includes links to
- two complete open online classes
- direct links to the lectures themselves
- copies of lecture slides
- and frequently-asked questions.
The lectures and courses are at a level appropriate for any level from approximately Junior (third year) or Senior (fourth year) undergraduates in science and engineering, through to graduate students and technical professionals. The material is specifically designed to be accessible not only to physicists but also to students and technical professionals over a wide range of science and engineering backgrounds.
Content of lectures 1 – 26 (also corresponding to the first online course)
This set of lectures and the corresponding course are designed to introduce quantum mechanics to anyone with a reasonable college-level understanding of physical science or engineering. Though once mostly of interest just to physicists, chemists and other basic scientists, the concepts and techniques of quantum mechanics are now essential in many areas of engineering and science such as materials science, nanotechnology, electronic devices, and photonics. This material forms a substantial introduction to quantum mechanics and how to use it.
Introduction to quantum mechanics
How quantum mechanics is important in the everyday world, the bizarre aspects and continuing evolution of quantum mechanics, and how we need it for engineering much of modern technology.
Schroedinger’s wave equation
Getting to Schroedinger’s wave equation. Key ideas in using quantum mechanical waves — probability densities, linearity. The “two slit” experiment and its paradoxes.
Getting “quantum” behavior
The “particle in a box”, eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Mathematics of quantum mechanical waves.
Quantum mechanics of systems that change in time
Time variation by superposition of wave functions. The harmonic oscillator. Movement in quantum mechanics — wave packets, group velocity and particle current.
Measurement in quantum mechanics
Operators in quantum mechanics — the quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian. Measurement and its paradoxes — the Stern-Gerlach experiment.
Writing down quantum mechanics simply
A simple general way of looking at the mathematics of quantum mechanics — functions, operators, matrices and Dirac notation. Operators and measurable quantities. The uncertainty principle.
The hydrogen atom
Angular momentum in quantum mechanics — atomic orbitals. Quantum mechanics with more than one particle. Solving for the the hydrogen atom. Nature of the states of atoms.
How to solve real problems
Approximation methods in quantum mechanics.
Content of lectures 27 – 52 (also corresponding to the second online course)
This set of lectures and the corresponding course cover key topics in the use of quantum mechanics in many modern applications in science and technology. They also introduces core advanced concepts such as spin, identical particles, the quantum mechanics of light, the basics of quantum information, and the interpretation of quantum mechanics, and they covers the major ways in which quantum mechanics is written and used in modern practice. This material should prepare the reader well to understand quantum mechanics as it is used in a wide range of current applications and areas and provide a solid grounding for deeper studies of specific more advanced topics.
Quantum mechanics in crystals
Crystal structures, the Bloch theorem that simplifies quantum mechanics in crystals, and other useful concepts for understanding semiconductor devices, such as density of states, effective mass, quantum confinement in nanostructures, and important example problems like optical absorption in semiconductors, a key process behind all optoelectronics.
Methods for one-dimensional problems
How to understand and calculate tunneling current. The transfer matrix technique, a very simple and effective technique for calculating quantum mechanical waves and states.
Spin and identical particles
The purely quantum mechanical idea of spin, and how to represent and visualize it. The general ideas of identical particles in quantum mechanics, including fermions and bosons, their properties and the states of multiple identical particles.
Quantum mechanics of light
Representing light quantum mechanically, including the concept of photons, and introducing the ideas of annihilation and creation operators.
Interaction of different kinds of particles
Describing interactions and processes using annihilation and creation operators for fermions and bosons, including the important examples of stimulated and spontaneous emission that correctly explain all light emitters, from lasers to light bulbs.
Mixed states and the density matrix
Introducing the idea of mixed states to describe how quantum mechanical systems interact with the rest of the complex world around us, and the notation and use of the density matrix to describe and manipulate these.
Quantum measurement and quantum information
Introducing the no-cloning theorem, quantum cryptography, quantum entanglement and the basic ideas of quantum computing and teleportation, and returning to the idea of measurement in quantum mechanics, including the surprising results of Bell’s inequalities.
Interpretation of quantum mechanics
A brief introduction to some of the different approaches to the difficult problem of understanding what quantum mechanics really means!
