Lecture Schedule:

The tentative lecture schedule is given in the table below. The latest version may be found on the course website. Key dates such as drop day and holidays are subject to change by Georgia Tech. Please check the official academic calendar.

Date	Topic	Reading
8/20	Scope and Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics,
	Course Outline, Applications of Quantum
	Mechanics
8/22	Historical first steps towards QM:	3-30
	UV catastrophe, Photoelectric effect, H atom
	spectrum, quantization, Bohr model
8/24	Wave-particle duality, interpretation	30-39
	of Bohr model, uncertainty principle
8/27	Waves and the Classical Wave Equation	47-64
8/29	The Schrödinger Equation	77-85, 120-123
	(time-independent and time-dependent)
8/31	Particle in a box, Free particle	85-101
9/3	Labor Day (School Holiday)
9/5	Operators and Commutators	126-133,135-140
		Handout
9/7	Uncertainty Principles
9/10	Test I
9/12	Postulates of Quantum Mechanics	113-125
9/14	Superpositions of States	120-123,133-135
9/17	Harmonic Oscillator I: Classical HO	153-162
9/19	Harmonic Oscillator II: Quantum HO	175-180, Mz. 53-61
9/21	Harmonic Oscillator III: Properties of	163-184
	HO wavefunctions
9/24	Harmonic Oscillator IV: Vibrational spectra	163-165
9/26	3D Systems. Separability of coordinates,	195-206
	3D particle in a box
9/28	Rigid Rotor, Spherical Harmonics	206-217
10/1	Angular Momentum	217-221, Mz. 187-190
10/3	Test II
10/5	Vibrational-Rotational Spectra I	437-449
10/8	Fall Break
10/10	Vibrational-Rotational Spectra II:	449-460
	Higher-order terms
10/12	Hydrogen Atom I	221-225
10/15	Hydrogen Atom II	225-242

10/17	Approx. Methods I: Perturbation Theory	242-243, 255-262
10/19	Approx. Methods II: Variational Methods	262-276
10/22	Linear Variation Method and Secular Determinants
10/24	Atoms I. Atomic Hamiltonian, Atomic units	287-294
10/26	Intro to Hartree-Fock method, spin	295-301
10/29	Antisymmetry, Slater Determinants	301-313
10/31	Atoms II. Electron configurations and	313-326, Handout
	term symbols, Aufbau principle
11/2	Atoms III. Hund's rules,	319-329
	Spin-orbit effects
11/5	Molecules. Born-Oppenheimer Approximation,	343-358
	Valence-bond theory
11/7	LCAO MO Treatment of H$_2^+$	358-369
11/9	Diatomics: Molecular orbitals, term symbols	369-390, Handout
11/12	Diatomics II
11/14	Polyatomics: Hybrid orbitals, term symbols	396-409,457-460
11/16	Test III
11/19	Introduction to Group Theory	Handout
11/21	Electronic Spectra	460-484
11/23	Thanksgiving break
11/26	Introduction to Statistical Mechanics	Smith Ch. 1
	Scope, Ensemble averages, Goals	Atkins Ch. 19
11/28	Canonical ensemble, Boltzmann distribution,	Smith Ch. 1
	Ensemble partition functions	Atkins Ch. 19
11/30	Partition functions for indistinguishable	Smith Ch. 4
	particles and thermo properties	Atkins Ch. 20
	(e.g., $E$, $S$, $C_v$, $H$, $A$, $G$)
12/3	Molecular partition functions, ideal gas	Smith Ch. 4
	law from stat mech + particle in a box	Atkins Ch. 20
12/5	Quantum contributions to partition functions	Smith Ch. 5
	and thermo properties	Atkins Ch. 20
12/7	Finish and Review

TA:

James Bradshaw

Textbook:

D. A. McQuarrie, Quantum Chemistry, University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA, 1983. If you have Physical Chemistry by McQuarrie and Simon, you do not need an additional book; the textbook is contained within the larger McQuarrie and Simon book. Handouts will be given for the statistical mechanics material, but you may wish to consult N. O. Smith, Elementary Statistical Thermodynamics: A Problems Approach, Plenum Press, New York, 1982.