Informal Description of the Course


  1. I've taught this class three times before (W03, S07, S10), although the class had a different name, Physics III. This course is basically the same as Physics III, although I am changing some aspects of how the course is structured.
  2. We will cover just a handful of key ideas, but will do so from a number of different perspectives. Some parts of this class will be quite mathematical, others will be not mathematical at all. It is likely that you will enjoy some parts of the class more than others. I think that these different perspectives will be complementary. However, there might be a little bit of redundancy at times.
  3. You do not need to have taken prior physics classes to take this course. A reasonable degree of comfort with algebra is the only pre-requisite.
  4. Falling behind in this course is not a good idea. If you're confused about something, it's very important that you seek help sooner rather than later. I can't offer assistance if I don't know who needs it when. You need to take responsibility to seek help if you need it. On a related note ...
  5. I do not expect all of the homework assignments to be easy; I don't expect you to be able to sit down and do them easily the first time. Don't let yourself get frustrated—I strongly suggest working with others and seeking help if you need it.
  6. You should be aware that this course is quite different than Physics III courses at other colleges and universities.
  7. You'll probably spend more time reading and thinking, and less time doing HW than you have in most other physics and math classes.
  8. This is the first time I've tried separate discussion sections in a course. I'm thus not sure how it will work, but I'm optimistic and excited to give it a try.
  9. The study of quantum mechanics has a very different feel to it than many other areas of physics. It's weird—far weirder than special relativity. My hope is that this will make you uncomfortable, but in a good way.
  10. For students who are more interested in the philosophical aspects of QM and less interested in the the mathematical theory, it should be possible to concentrate on this some independently towards the end of the course.

What this course is not


  • A modern physics course. Many first courses on quantum mechanics emphasize the tremendous applications of quantum mechanics. This is understandable; QM can explain atomic spectra, the specific heat of solids, semi-conductors, molecular bonding, etc. Courses with this emphasis are often titled Modern Physics. Modern Physics is a standard sophomore/junior level course for physics and chemistry majors. This course is not a modern physics course. It instead considers in considerable detail a few very simple QM systems. The goal is to give insight into the structure of the theory of quantum mechanics and make clear those aspects of quantum mechanics that are different than classical mechanics. This course is unusual but is not unique. A similar, although less technical, course has been offered for years at Oberlin college. A more advanced version of this course has been offered a few times at Oregon State University.
  • A philosophy course. This course is designed to explain what's new and different and strange and unsettling about quantum mechanics. In so doing, we will have considerable opportunity to discuss wave-particle duality, entanglement, causality, non-locality, and other spooky and/or philosophical things. However, this is not a philosophy course.
  • A new-age quantum experience. We will not directly cover such things as quantum healing, quantum psychology, quantum consciousness, etc. Nevertheless, this course should put you in a position to examine these ideas critically, carefully, and thoughtfully.
  • A particle physics course. This is not a course about string theory or modern particle physics.

Rough Outline


  1. The first part of the course of the course we will use Dan Styer's book, the Strange World of Quantum Mechanics. In the past, students have liked like this book but occasionally wondered if Styer was over-simplifying things.
  2. The second part of the course we will dig deeper into some of the philosophical questions raised by QM. In so doing we will read a handful of articles and book chapters.
  3. For the third part we will revisit in a more formal and mathematical way many of the topics covered by Styer. Those of you who like math and abstraction will enjoy this. I think you will find, however, that the math doesn't help with the philosophical or conceptual questions raised by QM. I suspect at this point that you will appreciate Styer's book much more than you might have at first.
  4. We will then look some at the historical development of QM. There will be two prongs to this. One will be scientific, the other historical and social. For the scientific prong, we'll use some materials from traditional modern physics texts. And for the historical, we'll read a few essays about some of the key scientists who developed QM.
  5. Finally, we will end the term with a discussion of cryptography and quantum cryptography. This is a fun topic that seems to go well in the last few weeks of spring term.
These different parts of the course may overlap some, and the discussion sections might get a bit out of phase with the main part of the course.