Description:

1. Motivations. The crisis of classical physics and the rise of quantum mechanics. Mathematical formulation of quantum theory. Spectral problems in classical physics.
2. Elements of functional analysis. The discrete and essential spectra. Sobolev spaces. Quadratic forms. Schrödinger operators.
3. Stability of the essential spectrum. Weyl's theorem. Bound states. Variational and perturbation methods.
4. The role of the dimension of the Euclidean space. Criticality versus subcriticality. The Hardy inequality. Stability of matter.
5. Geometrical aspects. Glazman's classification of Euclidean domains and their basic spectral properties.
6. Vibrational systems. The symmetric rearrangement and the Faber-Krahn inequality for the principal frequency.
7. Quantum waveguides. Elements of differential geometry: curves, surfaces, manifolds. Effective dynamics.
8. Geometrically induced bound states and Hardy-type inequalities in tubes.

Recommended literature:

Key references

[1] B. Davies, Spectral theory and differential operators, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
[2] A. Henrot, Extremum problems for eigenvalues of elliptic operators, Frontiers in Mathematics, Birkhäuser, Basel, 2006.
[3] M. Reed and B. Simon, Methods of modern mathematical physics, I-IV, Academic Press, New York, 1972-1978.
Recommended references:
[1] W. O. Amrein, A. Boutet de Monvel and V. Georgescu, C0 -groups, commutator methods and spectral theory of N-body Hamiltonians, Progress in Math. Ser., vol. 135, Birkhäuser, 1996.
[2] D. E. Edmunds and W. D. Evans, Spectral theory and differential operators, Oxford University Press, 1987.
[3] L. C. Evans, Partial Differential Equations, Amer. Math. Soc., 2010.

Keywords:

Schrödinger operators; Hardy inequality; Effective dynamics

Abbreviations used:

Semester:

• W ... winter semester (usually October - February)
• S ... spring semester (usually March - June)
• W,S ... both semesters

Mode of completion of the course:

• A ... Assessment (no grade is given to this course but credits are awarded. You will receive only P (Passed) of F (Failed) and number of credits)
• GA ... Graded Assessment (a grade is awarded for this course)
• EX ... Examination (a grade is awarded for this course)
• A, EX ... Examination (the award of Assessment is a precondition for taking the Examination in the given subject, a grade is awarded for this course)

Weekly load (hours per week):

• P ... lecture
• C ... seminar
• L ... laboratory
• R ... proseminar
• S ... seminar