PHY801 is a 3-credit graduate-level course on Atomic and Condensed Matter Physics. Prerequisites are PHY 471 (Quantum Physics I), PHY 410 (Thermal and Statistical Physics), and completion of the Tier I writing requirement.
Many-electron atoms. Molecules. Solids: crystal structure, lattice dynamics, electronic structure, band models of metals and semiconductors, magnetism, superconductivity.
https://nanoten.com/tomanek/courses/PHY801/ contains the updated course information.
Prof. David Tomanek
4231 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building
E-mail: tomanek@msu.edu
Phone: +1-517-884-5637
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 10:20 - 11:10 a.m. in Rm. 1420 BPS. Additional details are provided in the semester-specific Schedule.
After class and by appointment.
PART I (Atomic and Molecular Physics)
Review of the Hydrogen atom; Different units;
Excitons and other hydrogenic systems; Variational approach;
Relativistic Effects; Many-electron atoms and the Periodic Table;
Hund's rules; Magnetic properties of atoms; Diamagnetism; Paramagnetism;
Born-Oppenheimer approximation; H2+ molecule;
Molecular orbitals; Hund-Mulliken and Heitler-London for H2;
Electronic configuration of diatomic molecules.
PART II (Condensed Matter Physics):
Crystal Lattices, Bravais Lattices; Lattices with basis;
Wigner Seitz unit cells; Reciprocal Lattice; Brillouin Zone;
X-Ray and Electron Diffraction; Ewald construction; Structure Factors;
Bloch theorem; Crystal Momentum; Band structure; Metals, Semiconductors,
and Insulators; Properties of Nearly Free Electrons; Tight-binding model; Density of States; Classical Harmonic Crystal; Quantum Harmonic Crystal;
Einstein and Debye Models for specific Heat; Electronic properties
(Thermal, Magnetic, Transport, Optical); Superconductivity and Magnetism.
"Solid State Physics" by N. W. Ashcroft and N. D. Mermin, ISBN 0-030-83993-9, published by Cengage Learning; "Introduction to Solid State Physics" by Charles Kittel, ISBN 9780471415268, published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 7th or 8th edition. Recommended remedial reading for quantum mechanics is "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by David J. Griffiths, ISBN 0-13-111892-7, published by Pearson Prentice Hall, 2nd edition. Angular momentum in atoms is covered quite well in the textbook "Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers" by S. T. Thornton and A. Rex, third edition, Thomson Learning, ISBN 0-534-41781-7. A useful resource for atomic and molecular physics is "Physics of Atoms and Molecules" by B. H. Bransden and C. J. Joachain, ISBN 0-470-20424-9, published by Longman and Scientific & Technical and John Wiley, 1983. Additional reading resources will be recommended during the lectures.
Homework problems will be assigned during the semester. There will be no credit for solving the homework - solutions will be posted. All students should solve the HW problems, because many exam questions will be taken from these assignments.
To test your understanding of the course and the homework, short pop quizzes will be administered during the course. You should have no problem solving these quizzes if you have solved the homework problems.
There will be two Midterm exams and a Final exam. The Midterm exams will take place during class hours in the lecture room, as listed in the Schedule. The date, time and place of the Final Exam will be posted in the Schedule ahead of time. The exams will be based on material covered in the lectures and homework. All Exams are closed book exams.
You are responsible for bringing the following to the Exams:
University policies concerning academic integrity will be strictly enforced.
There will be no possibility to make up for missed assignments. When possible, please notify the instructor in advance if you must miss a course requirement, otherwise notify the instructor as soon as possible (within one week) afterwards.
In order for a missed assignment to be excused, you must present to the lecturer within one week a written excuse, dated and signed by you, explicitly stating the circumstances that caused you to miss the exam or pop quiz. This excuse should be verifiable, i.e. accompanied by a written document from a doctor, dean, etc. Excused absences will result in your grade being calculated on the basis of your performance on the other exams and pop quizzes.
The Michigan State University Code of Teaching Responsibilities states that any student missing the Final Exam may not be allowed to pass the course.
The grade point average used to determine the final grade will be
based on the Homework Discussion (5%), Pop Quizzes (20%),
the First Midterm Exam (20%),
the Second Midterm Exam (20%), and the Final Exam (35%).
The final grade is set by a fixed scale, given below.
Your minimum grade will be determined from:
The above percentages are based on the maximum total
number of points that a student could attain by earning
perfect scores on all the exams and quizzes.
These cutoffs may be lowered in your favor, but they will not be raised.
Using this scheme, you can calculate your minimum grade at any time
during the course.
Final Grade
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
Total Point Percentage
86-100%
76-85%
66-75%
56-65%
46-55%
37-45%
30-37%
0-29%
Michigan State University takes seriously the opinion of students in the evaluation of the effectiveness of instruction, and has implemented the SIRS (Student Instructional Rating System) process to gather student feedback. This course utilizes the "online SIRS" system. You will receive an e-mail sometime during the last two weeks of class asking you to fill out the SIRS online form at your convenience. Please note the final grade for this course will not be accessible on STUINFO for seven days following the University grade submission deadline published by the Office of the Registrar unless the SIRS online form has been filled out. You will have the option in the online SIRS form to decline to participate in the evaluation of the course - we hope, however, that you will be willing to give us your frank and constructive feedback so that we may instruct students even better in the future
tomanek@msu.edu