4.2
stars
52 ratings

Charles W. Clark +1 more instructor

27,402 already enrolled

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Exploring Quantum Physics

University of Maryland, College Park

About this Course

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An introduction to quantum physics with emphasis on topics at the frontiers of research, and developing understanding through exercise.

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

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Includes hands on learning projects.

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Approx. 34 hours to complete

English

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Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Approx. 34 hours to complete

English

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Instructors

Instructor rating

4.52/5 (19 Ratings)

Charles W. Clark

Fellow

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

27,402 Learners

1 Course

Dr. Victor Galitski

Professor

Department of Physics & Joint Quantum Institute

27,402 Learners

1 Course

Offered by

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 37,000 students, 9,000 faculty and staff, and 250 academic programs. Its faculty includes three Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 47 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. The institution has a $1.8 billion operating budget, secures $500 million annually in external research funding and recently completed a $1 billion fundraising campaign.

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating96%(1,370 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

3 hours to complete

Week 1 - Welcome, Lecture 1 and 2 - Conceptual Grounds

3 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 125 min)

11 videos

Welcome and overview13mPart I: Comments on studying QM10mPart II: Pioneering Experiments10mPart III: Pioneering Experiments (cont'd) 8m**Part IV: "Deriving" the Schrödinger Eq.15m***Part V: Spreading of quantum wavepackets12mPart I: Meaning of the wavefunction7m***Part II: Continuity Equation10m**Part III: Observables; Operators; Expectation Values9m**Part IV: Time Independent Schrödinger Eq.13m**Part V: Superposition; Dirac Notation; Representations12m

1 practice exercise

Homework 11h

Week2

Week 2

4 hours to complete

Week 2 - Lecture 3 and 4 - Path Integral

4 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 103 min)

Week3

Week 3

4 hours to complete

Week 3 - Lecture 5 and 6 - Quantum Wells to Cooper Pairs

4 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 139 min)

8 videos

*Part I: Electron in a Box13m**Part II: Finite Potential Well19m**Part III: Bound state in a 1D shallow potential15m***Part IV: Bound states in a delta potential (any dimension)20mPart I: The phenomenon of superconductivity15m*Part II: Quantum Statistics20m***Part III: Two-particle Schrödinger equation12m**Part IV: The Cooper problem19m

3 practice exercises

Homework 340mHomework 3 Optional: time propagation of a wavepacket1hHomework 3 Bonus Questions (Ungraded)30m

Week4

Week 4

3 hours to complete

Week 4 - Lecture 7 and 8 - Quantum Oscillators

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 134 min)

8 videos

*Part I: Quantizing the classical oscillator13m**Part II: Creation/annihilation operators9m**Part III: Generating the energy spectrum17m**Part IV: Harmonic oscillator wave-functions11mPart I: Collective modes; Goldstone theorem17m**Part II: Classical phonons in an oscillator chain22m***Part III: Quantum oscillator chain16m***Part IV: Deriving phonon spectrum; Bogoliubov transform (difficult material; optional)24m

2 practice exercises

Homework 440mHomework 4 Bonus Questions (Ungraded)30m

Week5

Week 5

4 hours to complete

Week 5 - Lecture 9 and 10 - The (Simplest) Atom

4 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 92 min)

8 videos

Part I: Introduction to optical spectra6mPart II: Cracking the hydrogen code 15mPart III: Classical hydrogen atom: angular momentum11mPart IV: Classical hydrogen atom: Runge-Lenz vector15mPart I: The Bohr model of the atom7mPart II: Applications of the Bohr Model15mPart III: Simple constructive techniques9mPart IV: Gaussians and the variational theorem11m

2 practice exercises

Homework 51h 40mHomework 5 Bonus Questions (Ungraded)30m

Week6

Week 6

5 hours to complete

Week 6 - Lecture 11 and 12 - The Bouncing Ball

5 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 107 min)

8 videos

Part I: Variational Estimates and Applications14mPart II: Hydrogen atom: variational and virial theorems18mPart III: Use of Special Functions14mPart IV: The Bouncing Ball16mPart I: Basic Properties of Angular Momentum Operators11mPart II: Basic Commutation Relations8mPart III: Angular Momentum as an Effective Potential8mPart IV: Angular Momentum and Runge-Lenz Vector14m

2 practice exercises

Homework 62h 20mHomework 6 Bonus Questions (Ungraded)30m

Week7

Week 7

4 hours to complete

Week 7 - Lecture 13 and 14 - Rotation and Spin

4 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 110 min)

10 videos

Part I: Rotation and Dipole Moments of Molecules11mPart II: Atomic and Molecular Polarizabilities: Perturbation Theory12mPart III: Atomic and Molecular Polarizabilities: Perturbation Theory (cont'd) 11mPart IV: Polarizability of the Hydrogen Atom13mPart V: The Spectra of Hydrogen Isotopes8mPart I: Introduction to gauge potentials - magnetic fields9mPart II: Impossibility of magnetism in classical mechanics17mPart III: The Dirac Equation - Basics8mPart IV: The Dirac Equation - Spin 9mPart V: Spin and Antimatter in Material Systems8m

2 practice exercises

Homework 72hHomework 7 Bonus Questions (Ungraded)30m

Week8

Week 8

2 hours to complete

Week 8 - Lecture 15 and 16 - Quantum Gas and Time Dependence

2 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 123 min)

4 hours to complete

Final Exam

4 hours to complete

Week9

Week 9

1 hour to complete

Bonus Lectures

1 hour to complete

5 videos (Total 60 min)

Reviews

4.2

16 reviews

5 stars
54.71%
4 stars
30.18%
3 stars
3.77%
2 stars
3.77%
1 star
7.54%

TOP REVIEWS FROM EXPLORING QUANTUM PHYSICS

by PMay 16, 2020

Excellent.Informative and ell explained by resource person.I enjoyed very much and learn a lot.

by EGJul 25, 2021

Very challenging course. The lectures are confusing and superficial, but the exercises and the exam problems are very interesting (and importantly are all correct).

by CTAug 16, 2020

This course is certainly too difficult for beginners, however, students with prior education in Q.M., Calculus and generalized physics will have a great but challenging time with this course.

View all reviews

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Exploring Quantum Physics

Exploring Quantum Physics

About this Course