Leonard Susskind introduces the spin statistics of Fermions and Bosons, and shows that a single complete rotation of a Fermion is not an identity operation, but rather induces a phase change that is detectable.

Professor Susskind continues with the presentation of quantum field theory. He reviews the derivation of the creation and annihilation operators, and then develops the formulas for the energy of a multi-particle system. This derivation demonstrates the correspondence between classical and quantum field theory for many particle systems.

Recorded on October 21, 2013.

1. Review of quantum mechanics and introduction to symmetry
2. Symmetry groups and degeneracy
3. Atomic orbits and harmonic oscillators
4. Spin, Pauli Matrices, and Pauli Exclusion Principle
5. Fermions: a tale of two minus signs
6. Quantum Field Theory: Particle Creation and Annihilation Operators
7. Quantum Field Theory: Fermions and Bosons
8. Second Quantization
9. Quantum Field Hamiltonian
10. Fermions and the Dirac equation

This course will explore the various types of quantum systems that occur in nature, from harmonic oscillators to atoms and molecules, photons, and quantum fields. Students will learn what it means for an electron to be a fermion and how that leads to the Pauli exclusion principle. They will also learn what it means for a photon to be a boson and how that allows us to build radios and lasers. The strange phenomenon of quantum tunneling will lead to an understanding of how nuclei emit alpha particles and how the same effect predicts that cosmological space can “boil.” Finally, the course will delve into the world of quantum field theory and the relation between waves and particles.