Syllabus

“Modern Quantum Mechanics” by J. J. Sakurai

Prerequisites: CHEM 346 or the equivalent.

Lectures: There will be three lectures per week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 2:00-2:50. The subject matter of each lecture and the corresponding pages in the textbook are listed in the calendar.

Homework: A problem set will be assigned once every week, and will be due one week later. Solutions will be posted on-line. Late papers will not be accepted given that the solutions have been posted.

Exams: There will be two midterm exams. The final will cover all discussed materials. It will be held during finals week, or sometimes thereabout (don’t worry so much).

Grades: The grade for the course will be calculated as follows:

Final: 300 points

Hour exams: 300 points

Problem sets: 150 points

Personalized feedback to students will be provided after every exam. Incompletes will be given only for serious and documented reasons, such as illness and family emergencies and catastrophic explosions.

Assistance with Disabilities: Concerning disabled students, the University of Illinois at Chicago is committed to maintaining a barrier-free environment so that individuals with disabilities can fully access programs, courses, services, and activities at UIC. Students with disabilities who require accommodations for full access and participation in UIC Programs must be registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). Please contact DRC at (312) 413-2183 (voice) or (312) 413- 0123 (TDD).

Academic Honesty: In all work (examinations, quizzes, and homework problems) you must adhere to the guidelines regarding academic honesty as described in the UIC Student Handbook. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated! A student who will be caught and proven to have committed an act of academic dishonesty on any homework set, quiz, or examination will automatically fail the course. The dishonest student will be reported to the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Science.

Attendance: Attendance and participation in all lectures is mandatory. All of the material covered during class lecture periods and in discussion sessions is subject to examination. The uses of Iphones, Ipads, or Ianything are not permitted during lectures, discussions and examinations. Please do not bring food or drinks.

Survival Guide: Chemistry 542 is a rigorous course that mostly covers the fundamentals and applications of Quantum Mechanics. This course involves logical reasoning and quantitative problem solving to a greater degree than most of the other courses you have taken. The only way to succeed in this course is through hard work. You must keep up with the work everyday, because succeeding topics build on and require an understanding of what was covered before. Here is what I expect from you:

1. Get to class on time and take careful notes.
2. Every two weeks reread all your notes from start to finish. If you do this, studying for tests and the Final Exam becomes a very simple exercise.
3. Work on the homework assignment. Start working on the homework assignment as soon as you receive it. It is impossible to do the entire assignment the night before it is due.
4. Along with reading your notes every two weeks, redo the homework problems that you missed. Don’t just look at the solutions, rewrite the problem from scratch and see if you can do it without notes. You’ll be surprised how often, even when you have looked over the answer just moments before, that you still can’t answer the problem. Examine the solution repeatedly till you can answer the question “blindfolded”.