CEM 993: Advanced Topics in Quantum Chemistry (Spring 2016)

 

ALGEBRAIC AND DIAGRAMMATIC METHODS FOR MANY-FERMION SYSTEMS

 

(offered at Washington University in St. Louis as CHEM 580/PHYSICS 580; see https://pages.wustl.edu/ppiecuch; video-recorded and made available online to students at Michigan State University as CEM 993)

 

Lectures:

Real-time lectures at WUSTL will be offered MWF 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. (with 10-minute break), Room 301, Laboratory Sciences Bldg.

Lectures begin on Wednesday, January 20, 2016, and end on Friday, April 29, 2016. The first lecture on January 20 will start at 9:00 a.m. The remaining lectures at WUSTL will start at 8:30 a.m.

Each lecture will be video-recorded and made available online at https://pages.wustl.edu/ppiecuch (see Course Videos in the main menu bar) and by signing into Blackboard at WUSTL at https://bb.wustl.edu/.

Students of CEM 993 are expected to attend MWF classes in Room 323 in the Chemistry Bldg. at MSU, where lectures recorded at WUSTL will be replayed on large monitors. Each of these online classes will start at 6:30 p.m. and last for about 1.5 hours excluding discussion among the students (Room 323 in the Chemistry Bldg. at MSU is reserved MWF 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.).

 

Instructor:

Professor Piotr Piecuch, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, Room 436, Louderman Hall, tel. 314-935-7921, e-mail: piecuch at chemistry.msu.edu, internet: www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/piecuch/ (on one-semester leave from Michigan State University).

 

Course Websites:

Students of CHEM 580/PHYSICS 580 at WUSTL: https://pages.wustl.edu/ppiecuch.

Students of CEM 993 at MSU: http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/courses/chem580/syllabus-CEM993.htm (this page).

 

Office Hours:

For regular questions about the course, email or telephone contact will be most practical. Online Skype sessions for all students of CEM 993 at MSU are contemplated and will be arranged in due time.

 

Books and Other Reading Materials:

There is no single textbook for this class. Thus, regular attendance at MWF evening classes in Room 323 in the Chemistry Bldg. at MSU, where lectures recorded at WUSTL will be replayed on large monitors, and taking notes during these classes will be very important to facilitate learning. Watching the lecture videos (if need be, multiple times) will be useful too. The detailed contents of the course can be downloaded from here. There are, however, excellent lecture notes by Professor Josef Paldus, which are related to the material discussed in class. Downloading them from www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~paldus/resources.html is strongly recommended. They will also be provided, along with other useful materials, by the instructor’s representative in the beginning of and throughout the semester. Other books and sources of information will be used to discuss specific topics, including, for example, books on reserve. Please use the http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/search/r link and search for CEM993 for further information.

 

Homeworks:

There will be six homework assignments, which will be successively added to the course website during the semester as PDF files. They will contain information about the relevant due dates. Students will be able to access them by clicking here, using the username and password information provided by the instructor. Alternatively, students will be able to access homework assignments by signing into Blackboard at WUSTL at https://bb.wustl.edu/. All homework assignments can contribute up to 35 % to the final grade. Unless directed otherwise, students of CEM 993 at MSU are requested to email clear PDF scans of their homeworks to the instructor no later than 5 p.m. EST of the day indicated as a due date. Late homeworks will not be accepted. Homework assignment solutions will be made available as PDF files and posted after the successive due dates. Students will be able to access them by clicking here, i.e., by going to the password-protected page where the homework assignments are posted, or by signing into Blackboard at WUSTL at https://bb.wustl.edu/.

 

Midterm exam:

There will be one midterm exam, contributing up to 30 % to the final grade. The date of the midterm exam will be announced in due time. The solutions of the midterm exam problems will be made available in the same password-protected page where the homework assignments are posted and in Blackboard at WUSTL at https://bb.wustl.edu/.

 

Final exam:

The date and time of the final exam will be announced later. The final exam will contribute up to 35 % to the final grade.

 

Grading scheme:

Assignments

  35 % of the final grade

Midterm exam

  30 % of the final grade

Final exam

  35 % of the final grade

Total

100 %

For students enrolled in CEM 993 at MSU, final grades will be assigned according to the following table:

85.0 – 100.0 %

4.0

70.0 –   84.9 %

3.5

55.0 –   69.9 %

3.0

45.0 –   54.9 %

2.5

35.0 –   44.9 %

2.0

30.0 –   34.9 %

1.5

25.0 –   29.9 %

1.0

20.0 –   24.9 %

0.5

  0.0 –   19.9 %

0.0