PHYS.6170 Advanced Quantum Mechanics I (formerly 95.617)

Description

Dirac equation as a single particle wave equation, free particle spinors and plane waves, matrices and relativistic covariance, nonrelativistic approximation and the fine-structure of the H atom. Quantization of the e.m. field in the coulomb gauge; interaction of an atom with the quantized radiation field; radiative transitions in atoms; Thomson scattering; classical and quantized Lagrangian field theory; symmetries and conservation laws: quantization of the real and complex Klein-Gordon field; Dirac Field and the covariant quantization of the e.m. field; Feynman propagators; the interaction picture and the S-matrix expansion in perturbation theory and the Wick's Rule. Feynman diagrams and rules for calculating S-matrix elements in QED; formulas for cross-section and spin and photon polarization sums; calculation of cross-sections for (1) e++e- l++ l - (2) e++e- e++e- (3) Compton scattering and (4) scattering of electrons by an external e.m. field.

Course prerequisites/corequisites are determined by the faculty and approved by the curriculum committees. Students are required to fulfill these requirements prior to enrollment. For courses offered through online or GPS delivery, students are responsible for confirming with the instructor or department that all enrollment requirements have been satisfied before registering.