PH 523 Quantum Mechanics 3 (Autumn 2017-18)

PH 523 Quantum Mechanics 3 (Autumn 2017-18)

Review 1:
Instructor Name: Kumar Rao
Course Type: Honours / Elective
Pre-requisites: QM-II is a recommended but not a necessary formal pre-requisite. The course runs in parallel to QM-II and the necessary things from QM-II are covered before they are needed in QM-III. Tensor algebra and special relativity are highly important informal pre-requisites.
Course Content: Maxwell's equations and basic electromagnetism in relativistic form, Lagrangian formulation in relativistic form, Klein-Gordon Equation, Dirac Equation, Solutions to Dirac equation in massless scenario and extension to massive cases, particle-antiparticle formalism, quantum field theory introduction, basic theory(eg - ABC theory) building, second quantisation, Feynman diagrams, propagators
Lectures: No attendance was taken but at the end of the semester he sent out an email to the people he did not find much in lectures threatening them with a DX grade. The mathematically easy but verbose portions were taught using slides and mathematically intensive portions were taught on the blackboard. Slides were given for 90% of the content. The professor is a bit crude and does not appreciate simple doubts but makes sure to give a proper explanation.
Assignments: No tutorials, but few assignments were given with 20% or so weightage. The assignments were difficult in general but appropriate to the level of course.
Exams and Grading: No quizzes were conducted. Midsem of 30%, endsem of 50% weightage. The exams were generally without a time limit which was apt considering they were very mathematically intensive and lengthy. You were expected to prove basic concepts, even those that were discussed in the assignments. The grading was very strict without any scope for cribs. The grading for the course was very strict too with just 1 AA and the next grade was BB. Formula sheets were allowed in the exams.
Online Resources: Google. There was no one specific online resource which was useful but many of them. Lecture notes from professors of other universities came in very handy.
Advanced Follow-up Courses: Elementary Particle Physics, Theoretical CMP, String Theory(proposed), Quantum Field Theory(proposed)
Course Content: Read as much as you can. The topic is very broad and you will have to skip through many resources to get a hand. The course is highly mathematically intensive and you need to work problems out a lot to get a basic understanding. Make sure you do a lot of problems from past papers and any other questions that you can find online. The grading is very strict so it's not recommended if you want a course which gets you an easy grade. 
Personal Comments: This is the best course I have done yet. I highly enjoyed the content with a lot of mind-blowing moments. The professor is a bit crude but his explanations are to the point without any loose ends leaving very little room for doubt. The grade I received does not reflect my interest/effort in the course but I have no regrets as I have never learnt more in a course, neither have I enjoyed any other lecture series as much.
Respondent: Sagar Addepalli

----------------------------------------------

Review 2:
Instructor name: Kumar Rao

Course Type: Honours / Elective

Pre-requisites: QM 2, classical mechanics

Course Content: Klein Gordon Equation, Dirac Equation, Weyl Equation, Scalar Field Quantization, Calculation of Scattering Cross-sections.

Books: Relativistic QM by Greiner
             Advanced QM by Schwabl

Lectures: Attendance was not mandatory.
                 Usage of both: slides/boardwork,
                 Class quality: very detailed work by the professor.

Exams and Grading: (No quizzes)
Assignments: 20%
Midsems: 30%
Endsems: 50%
*Subject to change
Difficulty level: moderately difficult.

Follow-up Courses: After this TCMP can be easily taken I think.

Personal Comments: He is a very good professor. He stresses a lot on the basics and doesn't believe in covering a lot of topics. Grading scheme is a bit strict.

Respondent: Sourav Roy


Note: This is a review to help you make a more informed choice about how to study for this course and/or choosing this course. While we've tried to keep it objective and complete, one must keep in mind that students have varying interests, methods of study, and the course itself changes from year to year.