Physics 385 Advanced Mathematical Methods in Physics
Location & Time: KPTC 101, T-Th 12:00-1:20
Office hours: W
11-12
Grader: Szilard Farkas, Accelerator 218
This is a special topics
course that is oriented around the theme of symmetry and its
implementation in physical systems; particularly quantum
mechanical systems. The
background required for the course is graduate level mathematical
physics and exposure to graduate level quantum mechanics.
The course grade will be based on homework assignments and perhaps
a final exam or presentation. An information handout can be
found here.
There is no primary textbook but some
references are listed below.
Problem Sets
Assignment 1
Solutions 1
Assignment 2
Solutions 2
Assignment 3
Solutions 3
Assignment 4
Solutions 4
Assignment 5
Solutions 5
Assignment 6
Solutions 6
Assignment 7
References
& Additional Sources
The
implentation of symmetry in physical systems involves
group theory. There are lots of reasonable texts on this
topic. Here are a few suggestions:
Lie Algebras in Particle
Physics by Howard Georgi
Symmetries, Lie Algebras and Representations by Fuchs and Schweigert
Group Theory and its
Applications in Physics by Tetsuro Inui, Yukito
Tanabe and Y. Onodera
Group Theory and Quantum
Mechanics by
Michael Tinkham.
There is also a new
book by Ramond available online via the library system here.
There is another text on semi-simple Lie algebras by Bob
Cahn that can be found at his home
page or here.