Northern Illinois University
Department of Physics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Students can get credit for special topics working with a faculty member - and - students can get started sophomore or junior year. It isn't necessary to wait until senior year!

Most of the professors have web pages that list their publications and research interests. However, It can be hard for and undergraduate students to get a sense of what exactly he or she might actually do and what sorts of activities would be involved.

For getting more concrete ideas of what faculty might suggest as initial activities for undergraduate students interested in participating in their research programs, see the topics listed in the Phys 498/499. Also, check out the URAP opportunities when they get posted in the college! While those are not for academic credit, they do come with a little bit of stipend attached.

Meets Mon. Wed. Fri. 10-10:50 a.m. - LaTourette Hall 237

• announcements
• homework and discussions

Likely this will be the Required Textbook (at present being 04/2016) I am still reading through several others - so consider this as just a good book for now)

Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers: David ABMiller, (2008) Publisher: Cambridge Press. This is a quite nice book, it has a more pragmatic approach than the UG texts that attempt to mimic a graduate physics QM course I think that it fits well for this course (460/560) - where students will go off in many directions after this course - some to graduate school in physics (where having good visualizations and intuition of what works will help them when they tackle the math again at a deeper level) and for those going to interdisciplinary areas, they will have enough solid background to understand (and even calculate models) applicable to their fields.

Background textbooks

Pull your Phys III (intro modern physics, i.e, Phys 283) and Intro Modern Physics (i.e, Phys 383) textbooks out of storage! Please see me for other suggestions and loaners of other helper textbooks at the level if necessary.

Additional textbooks at the upper-level UG level (similar to this course) that have good material covered in different ways or problems for practice

• Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: in Chemistry, Materials Science, and Biology, SMBlinder, Academic Press

The following are very classic text often used for 2 semester UG quantum physics courses

• Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, David JGriffiths, Pearson Prentice Hall;
• Introductory Quantum Mechanics, Richard Liboff, Addison-Wesley Publishing;
• Quantum Mechanics: Concepts and Applications, Nouredine Zettili, Wiley Publishing

I have not seen the following - but just ran across it and was able to see the table of contents - has a broad and interesting selection of topics

• The Quantum Mechanics Solver: How to Apply Quantum Theory to Modern Physics,
• Jean-Louis Basdevant and Jean Dalibard, Springer Press

Note to Phys 560 students (graduate credit)

Phys 560 students will usually have extra required problems added into the homework, or some problems replaced by more sophisticated versionsTypically, one of their exam problem choices will be replaced with a problem that requires a deeper level of understandingI otherwise will use the same 'percentage' weighting for the final grade.

Meets Friday 2:00-4:50 p.m. (Physics Colloquium (with refreshments) will generally be 3:00-4:30) - LaTourette Hall 227

• announcements
• handouts
• syllabus (same as Spring 2015)

Catalog description:

PHYS 498 SENIOR SEMINAR (1 credit) Topics of current interest in physics and physics educationAttendance at the Department of Physics Colloquium series requiredPRQ: PHYS 374 and senior standing in physics

PHYS 499 SENIOR PROJECT IN PHYSICS (3 credits, honors credit) Program of study and research in a special area of physics selected in consultation with a faculty member and approved by the department chairProject results evaluated by a faculty panelA student who receives credit for PHYS 499 may not also receive credit towards the major in PHYS 459PRQ: PHYS 374 and senior standing in physics

Faculty and either their suggestions for topics or description of their expertise. The research-active faculty in the department will have websites that discuss their interests and expertiseStudents are encouraged to start talking to faculty NOW!The topic and its boundaries need to be defined (and approved by faculty mentor) in under 2 weeks into the semester.

Where faculty and research faculty have provided them, some links to an article or site that illustrate the topic is provided.