Courses Catalogue

Syllabus of the course: Quantum Structure of Matter

In this web page we provide the syllabus of the course Quantum Structure of Matter, offered by the Department of Physics.
The list of the courses offered during the current accademic year is available here.
The list of all courses offered by the Department of Physics is available here.

Code	Φ-304
Type	B
ECTS	6
Hours	6
Semester	Spring
Instructor	S. Trachanas, (Exercises: I. Karadamoglou)
Program	Monday 13:00-16:00, Room 3
Web page
Goal of the course	The course is addressed to third year students and requires the knowledge of an introductory course in quantum mechanics. It presents the practical but also detailed application of basic principles of quantum mechanics in the description of the physical properties of matter.
Syllabus	Introduction to perturbation and variation principle. Theory of time independent solutions. First and second order correction to the energy and wavefunction. Examples of perturbations in the infinite well, minimization techniques. Atoms: The concept of central field, the periodic table of elements, order of magnitude estimations. Approximation calculations of the helium ground state. Fine and hyperfine structure. Multielectron atoms, Hund's rules. Molecules: The theory of chemical bond. The problem of double well. Structure and properties of simple molecules (H2, O2, H2O, NH3). Study of the Ammonia molecule. The Ammonia maser. Hybrid chemical bonds and carbon molecules. The problem of multiple wells in linear and circular arrangements. Aromatic hydrocarbons. The molecular hydrogen ion. Solids: The one dimensional solid and the strong coupling approximation. Energy bands and the problem of electric conductivity. Conductors, semiconductors, insulators. Fermi energy and the density of states. Extra dense matter and the Chandrasekhar limit. Light and Matter: A presentation of Fermi's rule. Electric and magnetic dipole transitions. Selection rules. Cross section of a transition and mean free path. Spontaneous and stimulated emission. Ionization processes. Interactions of X-rays with matter. Scattering and Reyleigh's law. Polirization and index of refraction. Multiphoton processes.
Bibliography