I really liked the concept behind this course. Offering a class to teach somewhat-advanced topics in quantum physics, for people that aren’t (or aren’t planning to become) experts in the field, is a fantastic idea. That being said, I personally found a few issues with the class.

First of all, the “about” section describes it as: “An introduction to quantum physics with emphasis on topics at the frontiers of research…”. However, in no shape or form this is an introductory course to the subject. I think someone without any previous exposure to quantum mechanics will find the material very difficult to follow. For instance, concepts like operators, Dirac notation, time evolution, commutators are used in the first few lectures without a formal introduction. I think that perhaps having some exposure to introductory concepts in quantum mechanics (like in my case) is probably a prerequisite to really be able to get through this course and make it enjoyable. I believe that if I hadn't previously taken another intro course to quantum mechanics, I would have most likely given up after the first lecture.

Second of all, although the first half of the course is very well organized and self-contained, the second half is extremely hard to follow and requires a good amount of extra work to really understand the material. It isn’t necessarily that the material is harder, it is just not explained very well. Also, all quizzes are quite difficult, but the material covered in the first 4 weeks is enough to provide the tools required to solve its homework. Now, for weeks 5 through 8, you are probably going to spend twice (or three times) as long solving the problems; particularly the ones for week 7.

Lastly, I think there is a problem in the way the final exam was structured. The instructors decided to split it into two separate parts, one with 10 question and one with only 6 questions. In order to pass the class, you have to get at least 70% on each of these separately, and you only get one attempt. That means that, in the second part of the final, you can only get one out only six questions wrong, otherwise you fail the whole course! Furthermore, this second part corresponds to the material covered in the second half of the course (which is harder to follow), and there are several question that are NOT multiple option; you actually have to input a number with significant digits and exponents as an answer. This means that, if you get one wrong answer, and let’s say make one single typing mistake inputing another of these answers, you will fail the WHOLE course. I did manage to pass the exam only getting the last question wrong, but the amount of stress I had at this point after realizing I could only make one mistake, and having payed for a potential certificate, and dedicating weeks of my time taking the course very seriously, was ridiculous. I really hope they fix this.

too difficult for beginners

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.

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

4 options every 60 days, and the final two tests gives one shot only? Come on!! Besides that, great course, a hard one

I love the fact this course was orientated in base of original quantum physics papers. I love the Feyman formulation chapter, I would enjoy a full course about it.

This is quite a rigorous course ,taught me the advanced concepts Clear insight into path integrals, gauge transformation ,quantum statistics." CONCEPTS, PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS & NUMERICAL COMPUTATIONS are in PHASE"

Way to complicated and fast for beginners who are just trying to understand the basics.

This course offered a wealth of knowledge over many advanced topics in quantum, modern and condensed matter physics. Although the material was rigorous, the 'go at your own pace' structure of the class made it very doable and provides students with ample time to study the material and reset assignment due dates if necessary. The assignments were fairy difficult because very few, if any, practice problems are worked during the lectures. As a result you will be expected to solve problems on graded quizzes and exams over topics and their respective solution methods not explicitly covered in lecture. Fortunately, assignments are open note and typically offer multiple attempts, so they are fairly forgiving. All in all, this was an extremely interesting class and I learned a lot. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about this topic, although it would be a very difficult class if you do not already have a math intensive STEM background.

Excellent course. Learnt a lot.

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

Not what I was looking for

Very good course for students who have the basis of quantum mechanics and want to explore the quantum physics! All the topics are very interesting. I also appreciate that the course is research oriented and always remark when talk about current subjects. Well done to all the professors of the course!

AAAAA AMAZING CLASS COURSE MATERIAL AND TESTS TOOK ME A YEAR AND ABOUT A HALF, BUT HAD TO STEP BACK FROM IT FOR A FEW MONTHS, JUST MOSTLY GLAD I WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE IT

best and excellent course

it's awsome

It took a few trys, but i passed.

The Professor was hard to understand and the homework was nearly impossible because none of the variables of the equations made any sense since the professor never explained their function or theri use.

I think it is more than an introductory course. Some concepts are rather difficult and they wuold require more explanations. I apprecciated it anyway.

The whole course was a great way to get a deeper understanding of the concepts of one of the most fascinating areas of physics.