PHYS 481 - Atoms and Photons Credits: 3

Investigates the structure of matter at the atomic level, the free photon field and their mutual interaction. Possible topics are: hydrogen atom review; generalized angular momentum theory; radial wave functions and self-consistent field solutions; coupling schemes and atomic eigenstates; general excitation and decay dynamics; quantization of the free EM field; coherent and incoherent states of the photon field; atom-photon interaction terms, gauge representations; 1st order process: e.g. absorption and emission; and higher order processes: e.g. 2-photon decay.

Prerequisite(s): PHYS 301 and PHYS 311 and PHYS 321
Graduate Credit: This course is not available for graduate credit.