Entry requirements

120 credits in science/engineering. Participation in Quantum Mechanics or Atomic and Molecular Physics. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• Analyse and evaluate the capabilities of, and the information generated by, different spectroscopic techniques, and identify the various properties these techniques measure in different physical systems;
• Explain, categorise and contrast different techniques and instrumentation on the basis of the fundamental physical principles that govern their operation;
• Propose and design new spectroscopic experiments for different systems using a quantum-mechanical description of the systems and the methods;
• Analyse spectroscopic datasets and support interpretations with quantum-mechanical reasoning.

Content

Conceptual foundation for understanding modern spectroscopic techniques and their instrumentation: time-dependent and time-independent quantum-mechanical formulations of measurement processes using modern spectroscopic techniques and instrumentation.

Spectroscopic versus scattering techniques; interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter across the entire electromagnetic spectrum; interactions of charged particles with matter; mass spectrometry; combinations of spectroscopy and imaging methods; spectroscopic measurements for the characterisation of physical processes (spectral line shapes) in scientific and technological applications.

Spectroscopy from the hydrogen atom, including proton and electron spin, to multi-electron atoms in external fields and materials; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared and Raman spectroscopy, as well as imaging; fundamentals of molecular spectroscopy (the Born–Oppenheimer approximation, electronic transitions, the Franck–Condon principle, UV/Vis spectroscopy); ultrafast relaxation and spectroscopy of time-dependent phenomena and dynamics (wave packets, short pulses, time-resolved laser spectroscopy); X-ray spectroscopy for chemical analysis.

Technical solutions in laboratory set-ups for spectroscopy; particle accelerators; light and particle sources; nuclear reactors; fusion plasmas.

Applications in astrophysics and astronomy, materials science, medical imaging, catalysis, chemistry, biology, and nanoscience.

Data analysis using non-linear optimisation methods; machine learning; presentation and visualisation of spectroscopic data and derived quantities.

Instruction

Lectures, classes for individual or group work, laboratory sessions, and student presentations with discussions of the classes, laboratory work, and presentations in the classroom.

Assessment

Assignments submitted during the course, consisting of problems and calculation exercises. Active participation in laboratory work. Oral presentations related to classes, laboratory work, and student presentations.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the assessment method indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.