This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5612, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree.
Approximation Methods
Approximation Methods
This course is part of Quantum Mechanics for Engineers Specialization
Instructor: Wounjhang Park
Sponsored by Coursera Learning Team
5,785 already enrolled
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Intermediate level
Recommended experience
14 hours to complete
3 weeks at 4 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
Distinguish non-degenerate and degenerate cases and use appropriate methods.
Perform calculations using the time-independent perturbation theory.
Describe absorption and stimulated emission processes.
Obtain approximate solutions using the variational method.
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Assessments
1 quiz, 2 assignments
Taught in English
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This course is part of the Quantum Mechanics for Engineers Specialization
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There are 3 modules in this course
In this module we will introduce the course on approximation methods commonly used in quantum mechanics and then discuss time-independent perturbation theory. We will first discuss non-degenerate perturbation theory and derive useful formulas for the first- and second-order corrections. We will then discuss degenerate perturbation theory. We will also discuss specific examples where the various perturbation methods are used - Stark effect, fine structure and Zeeman effect.
What's included
8 videos4 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
In this module, we will introduce interaction picture and derive time evolution equations. After discussing a simple but illuminating example of two-state system, we develop time-dependent perturbation theory and discuss the probability of transitions between quantum states induced by external perturbation.
What's included
5 videos3 readings1 assignment1 peer review
This module covers several non-perturbative approximation methods. They are the tight binding method, variational method and the use of finite basis set.
What's included
3 videos3 readings1 quiz1 discussion prompt
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