Physics

GENERAL OBJECTIVES: The course aims at introducing the basic notions of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and of statistical mechanics and illustrating their application to symple physical systems. At the end of the course, students will possess the fundamentals of both theories. They will have also acquired the skills necessary to solve Schrodinger’s equation and evaluate the partition function of simple systems of noninteracting particles obtaining the corresponding physical properties. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: A - Knowledge and understanding OF 1) To know the basic notions of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics for a single particle or a system of noninteracting particles. OF 2) To understand the notion of spin and the composition of angular momenta. OF 3) To know the perturbation theory, time dependent and time independent, also in the presence of degeneracy. OF 4) To understand the connection between particle spin and particle exchange symmetry for a quantum state. OF 5) To know the basic notions of statistical mechanics for systems of noninteracting particles, classical or quantum. OF 6) To understand the notions of micro- and macrostate as well as that of equilibrium state in the case of microcanonical, canonical and grancanonical ensembles. OF 7) To know the main state functions and their relations B - Application skills OF 8) To be able to face with conceptual problems among the arguments discussed. OF 9) To be able to solve simple problems with analytical techniques. OF 10) To be able to lay out a problem to be solved with numerical techniques. C - Autonomy of judgment OF 11) To be able to establish a bidirectional link between mathematical solutions of a problem and the physical properties of the corresponding system. D - Communication skills OF 12) To be able to communicate in a synthetic but comprehensive way the solution of problems and its logical structure. E - Ability to learn OF 13) Have the ability to consult different textbooks using different notations.