Quantum Phisycs 1

This course proivdes an introduction to the ideas and methods of quantum physics. In ths first part, the motivations for quantum physics are presented, its basic principles are introduced and the formalisim of non-relativistic quantum mechanics is developed, specifically in one dimension.

At the end of part 1 the student:
1. will be able to justify the need for a quantum description of Nature;
2. Will be able to construct the quantum operators associated to physical observables, to understand the probabilistic nature of the masurement of observables, and to classify (also using the density matrix formalism) the information content of a quantum state;
3. Will be able to quantize a one-dimensional mechanical system
4. Will be able to determine the time evolution of quantum systems, using the Heisenberg or the Schroedinger picture;
5. Will understand the properties of plane waves and wave packets;
6. Will be able to solve the Schroedinger equation with a variety of one-dimensional potentials (steps, wells, etc) which give rise to discrete or continuous spectra;
7. Will be able to determine the spectrum of the harmonic oscillator and will be able to manpulate creation and annihilation operators, also for the construction of cohernet states.