PHYS 434Quantum Physics 3
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Science
- Subject
- Physics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Symmetries and conservation laws. Review of time-independent perturbation theory (degenerate and non-degenerate, Rayleigh-Schrodinger, Brillouin-Wigner and canonical perturbation theory; effective Hamiltonian derivation). Time-dependent perturbation theory (first and second order, adiabatic perturbation, Aharonov-Bohm effect). Fermi's golden rule. Two-level systems. Emission and absorption of radiation (applications). Second quantization of electromagnetic field in free space; photons. Spontaneous emission and natural lifetime; Lamb shift. Elements of scattering theory. Introduction to the Dirac equation.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- Complete 1 of the following
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 7022 | 56 / 84 | TTh 08:30–09:50 TTh 08:30–09:50 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
45% liked it34% easy66% useful
From 20 ratings and 6 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Course had decent content, but prof (Gingras) made every aspect of the assessments a terrible experience, while taking no responsibility for any of it. The final exam had negative marking in one of the sections if you get something wrong, thats how evil this guy is.
Nov 2025 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
I would recommend that anyone doing grad school in quantum, AMO, or condensed matter physics take this course. You cover some really important stuff like time-dependent perturbation theory and photoemission. But good grief, this was sometimes such a miserable experience. Some of the assignments were really really tedious, like over 30 integrals, and the instructor had weird obsolete opinions/policies about tools like WolframAlpha. The instructor was kind of eccentric. Have fun on his exams...
Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Gingras expects the world out of you. 60% of the students dropped this term, likely due to the course load (15h+ assignments every 10ish days), and grading habits (likely a bimodal 80% & 20% midterm, from what my friends have said). We're all so burnt out at this point I feel like we deserved Christine but received Krampus.
Nov 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
That is good,it is interesting!
Oct 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Very interesting course! You cover a wide range of material, including some relativistic quantum mechanics at the end. It wasn't super hard either. I strongly recommend taking this AND Phys 454; they complement each other well and whenever there's overlap between the two courses, they present the material differently.
Jan 2018 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
15 posts and comments in 15 threads mention PHYS 434, November 2010 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Fall 2024
4th Year PHYS Electives 2 points, 0 comments
u/Patience_is_aVirtue: “… There are a few options out there such as PHYS 434, 442, 454, 468, and 490. I am just wondering if anyone has taken these. If so, how was your experience? Did you like the course? …”
Spring 2024
Fun PHYS & AMATH Courses 5 points, 1 comment
u/eranand04: “seems like u have AMATH 250, MATH 237, PHYS 121. If u like lin alg: PHYS 234, 334 ,434, AMATH 373, 473, 474. If u like DE: PHYS 363, AMATH 361. If u like vector calc: PHYS 242, 342, 442”
Winter 2023
What’s been your easiest and hardest year so far? 10 points, 16 comments
u/TheRealArjun: “… tbh): 3B - AMATH 353, AMATH 373, CS 436, CS 467, ECE 459, PMATH 332 4A - ECE 222, ECE 351, PHYS 434, PHYS 442, PHYS 454, PHYS 475 WT5 - ECE 350, ECE 454, Coop 5 4B is looking bad and its only been one month...”
Fall 2022
phys 434 disaster exam 28 points, 10 comments
Phys 434 and Phys 454 (Quantum Phys 3 and Quantum Theory 2) 2 points, 3 comments
u/Suitable_Address_546: “What is the difference between the two courses. Is one easier/harder than the other or do they overlap a bunch. Would love to hear any opinions on either course!”
Fall 2021
What are your favourite classes at UW 56 points, 87 comments
u/the_garden_waste: “PHYS 434: quantum mechanics 3. Probably the easiest quantum course you can take. SCI 207: Physics, the Universe and Everything. Richard Epp just makes everything better PHYS 468: Implementation to Quantum Information Processing. …”
Winter 2019
How are the physics professors here? 2 points, 34 comments
“I'm in first year and haven't come across any great professor apart from Richard Epp. Are the upper year professors also bad?”
u/cabbagemeister: “Out of the professors I've had some sort of interactions with: Top Tier: Avery Broderick (Stars, Planets), Richard Epp (121/124/263), Eduardo Martin-Martinez (GR) Good Tier: Rajibul Islam (optics, …”
u/cabbagemeister: “… There are indeed more phys courses in the sci faculty (mainly accounted for by PHYS124/236/363/442/434) Here are the equivalent AMATH credits in Sci for Math AMATH 231 Calculus 4 (also in SCI) AMATH 242/CS 371 (Equivalent is PHYS236) AMATH 251 (also in SCI) AMATH 271 (PHYS263 …”
Spring 2018
What courses are you taking next term? 4 points, 47 comments
“Mine will be a boring one. ACTSC371, MATH237, STAT231, CO342 and AFM101”
u/Kakateo: “AMATH 473, PHYS 434, PHYS 442, PHYS 474 and probably AMATH 461”
Fall 2017
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”
u/Jackhofmann: “… 256 PHYS 256L PHYS 275 PHYS 342 PHYS 358 PHYS 360A PHYS 360B PHYS 363 PHYS 364 PHYS 380 PHYS 434 PHYS 437A PHYS 437B PHYS 442 PHYS 454 PHYS 460A PHYS 460B PHYS 461 PHYS 474 PHYS 475 PHYS 490 PHYS 491 PHYS 601 PHYS 602 PHYS 603 PHYS 604 PHYS 605 PHYS 611 PHYS 701 PHYS 704 PHYS …”
Fall 2016
phys 434 vs 454 4 points, 1 comment
u/uwaterloo_physics: “whats the difference between them?”
Spring 2016
[Discussion] What courses are you taking next semester? 4 points, 32 comments
u/CaptainShmiggles: “PHYS 442, PHYS 434, PHYS 256, and PHYS 437A. I wish I passed 256 in second year...”
Winter 2016
PHYS 234 and PHYS 233/ECE 405 5 points, 7 comments
“Is there any reason why one would take PHYS 234 over PHYS 233 (and vice versa)? Other than the fact that PHYS 233/234 are antireqs for each other, PHYS 233 seems to cover content from PHYS 234 and …”
u/yl5zhang: “I took 234 before and I think it requires more math. Quantum physics is all about probabilities, calculus, etc. and the course was quite computation heavy (lots of calculus, integrations). …”
u/with_alacrity: “Is it that bad? I was planning to take Quantum Theory 2 over PHYS 434.”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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