Course Description

Quantum Mechanics started about 100 years ago, with the experimental discoveries of Rutherford (that the atom had lots of empty space) and the theoretical developments of Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg and Dirac among others. This radical new way of looking to the world has changed completely our view and understanding of physics since its discovery. Beginning with an observation as simple as the fact that the energy of a wave should be proportional to its frequency, quantum mechanics goes all the way up to what became known as the Standard Model, which is a physical model for 3 of the forces of nature: strong, eletromagnetic and weak! The Standard Model is the greatest achievement of quantum mechanics in its generalized form, known as Quantum Field Theory, and it explains most of the forces of physics, leaving only gravity aside. This is what started the search for a Theory of Everything (TOE), the will to find a single theory that would explain all the four forces of nature. Presently, the best candidate is String Theory, in the form of M-Theory.

This course has the purpose of walking the student through Quantum Mechanics.

The classes will be varied, including expository, group discussions, presentations by the students, and exercise solving. The evaluation will be done based on the class participation and on seminars given by the students on selected topics.

The student willing to try this course should have a working knowledge of algebra and calculus. Everything else will be taught and built from the course.