Teaching
Advanced Quantum Physics
This is a 4th year undergraduate course being delivered at Bristol University.
The (handwritten) lecture notes can be found here.
Reading list
The following resources were used in preparing the course:
- T. Lancaster and S. J. Blundell, “Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur” (OUP 2014)
- J. Polchinski, “String Theory (Vol. 1)” (CUP 2001) -- Appendix A
- R. P. Feynman, “Statistical Mechanics” (Westview Press 1972)
- R. P. Feynman and A. R. Hibbs, “Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals” (McGraw Hill 1965)
- L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, “Course of Theoretical Physics Volume 3 - Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory” (Pergamon Press, Third edition, 1977)
- R. Shankar, “Principles of Quantum Mechanics” (Plenum Press 1994)
- Ben Simons' notes
- Michael Fowler's notes
- Robert Littlejohn's notes
- David Tong's notes
The following textbooks are freely available online:
- J. Binney and D. Skinner, The Physics of Quantum Mechanics
- R. P. Feynman, R. B. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics.
Some other references you may wish to consult:
- P. A. M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
- D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition)
- S. Weinberg, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2015).
- A. I. M. Rae and J. Napolitano, Quantum Physics (Routledge, 6th edition, 2015) ISBN 9781482299182
- J. J. Sakurai and J. Napolitano, Modern Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2017) ISBN 978-1-108-42241-3
- S. Gasiorowicz, Quantum Physics (Wiley, 3rd edition, 2003) ISBN 978-0471057000
- A. P. French and E. Taylor, An Introduction to Quantum Physics (W. W. Norton and Company, 1978) ISBN 0393091066
- R. Eisberg and R. Resnick, Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles (Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition, 1985) ISBN 978-0471873730.
Previous courses
Introductory Quantum Mechanics
This was a 2nd year undergraduate delivered at Cardiff University from 2020-2022.
The course syllabus can be found here.
Videos for the course can be found here.
Transcripts for lectures can be found here.
Notes can be found here.
The brief for the coursework can be found here.
The problem sets can be found here.
Reading list
The following textbooks are freely available online:
- J. Binney and D. Skinner, The Physics of Quantum Mechanics
- P. A. M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
- R. P. Feynman, R. B. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics.
Some other references you may wish to consult:
- D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition)
- S. Weinberg, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2015).
- A. I. M. Rae and J. Napolitano, Quantum Physics (Routledge, 6th edition, 2015) ISBN 9781482299182
- J. J. Sakurai and J. Napolitano, Modern Quantum Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2017) ISBN 978-1-108-42241-3
- L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Volume 3 - Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory (Pergamon Press, Third edition, 1977) ISBN 0080291406
- S. Gasiorowicz, Quantum Physics (Wiley, 3rd edition, 2003) ISBN 978-0471057000
- A. P. French and E. Taylor, An Introduction to Quantum Physics (W. W. Norton and Company, 1978) ISBN 0393091066
- R. Eisberg and R. Resnick, Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles (Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition, 1985) ISBN 978-0471873730.
A Practical Introduction to Quantum Field Theory
This was a 7 lecture graduate course on introductory quantum field theory, aimed primarily at 4th years, Master's and PhD students, delivered at Bristol University.
The full set of lecture notes is available here.
The problem sets are available here.
The recommended course textbooks are:
- T. Lancaster and S. J. Blundell, “Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur”
- M. Peskin and D. V. Schroeder, “An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory”
- A. Zee, “Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell”
- A. Altland and B. Simons, “Condensed Matter Field Theory”
Finally, check out this great film about Hideki Yukawa.
Fermi Problems (Estimation and Dimensional Analysis)
Click here for a copy of my problem sheet on Fermi estimation. There are two excellent references I know of, both highly worth a read and freely available online:
- “Order-of-Magnitude Physics: Understanding the World with Dimensional Analysis, Guesswork, and White Lies” by P. Goldreich, S. Mahajan, and S. Phinney (issued by Stanford and available here)
- “Modern Physics from an Elementary Point of View” by V. F. Weisskopf (issued by CERN and available here)
You might also like to look at the SI unit specification.
1st year Essential Maths for Physics
This section was for the benefit of my first year tutorial groups at Bristol.
- Click here for my notes on Fourier analysis using Dirac notation.
- Click here for my notes on the chain rule.
- Click here for my 5-point plan regarding line integrals.
- Click here for my 5-point plan for evaluating double integrals.
- Click here for an extract from Blundell (see below) proving a couple of useful partial derivative relations.
Perturbation Theory
Notes to accompany my talk on this subject can be found here.
The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
A brief note to accompany my talk on this subject can be found here.