Applied Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics is widely recognized as the basic law which governs all of nature, including all materials and devices. It has always been essential to the understanding of material properties, and as devices become smaller it is also essential for studying their behavior. Nevertheless, only a small fraction of graduate engineers and materials scientists take a course giving a systematic presentation of the subject. The courses for physics students tend to focus on the fundamentals and formal background, rather than on application, and do not fill the need. This invaluable text has been designed to fill the very apparent gap.The book covers those parts of quantum theory which may be necessary for a modern engineer. It focuses on the approximations and concepts which allow estimates of the entire range of properties of nuclei, atoms, molecules, and solids, as well as the behavior of lasers and other quantum-optic devices. It may well prove useful also to graduate students in physics, whose courses on quantum theory tend not to include any of these applications. The material has been the basis of a course taught to graduate engineering students for the past four years at Stanford University.Topics Discussed: Foundations; Simple Systems; Hamiltonian Mechanics; Atoms and Nuclei; Molecules; Crystals; Transitions; Tunneling; Transition Rates; Statistical Mechanics; Transport; Noise; Energy Bands; Electron Dynamics in Solids; Vibrations in Solids; Creation and Annihilation Operators; Phonons; Photons and Lasers; Coherent States; Coulomb Effects; Cooperative Phenomena; Magnetism; Shake-off Excitations; Exercise Problems.

This updated and expanded edition makes quantum mechanics accessible to electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, materials scientists and applied physicists by using real-world applications and engineering examples. Numerous illustrations, exercises, worked examples and problems are included; Matlab source codes to support the text are available from www.cambridge.org/9780521860963.

For upper-level undergraduates and graduate students: an introduction to the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, emphasizing aspects essential to an understanding of solid-state theory. Numerous problems (and selected answers), projects, exercises.

* An applied focus for electrical engineers and materials scientists. * Theoretical results supported with real-world systems and applications. * Includes worked examples and self-study questions. * Solutions manual available.

Taking a conceptual approach to the subject, Concepts in Quantum Mechanics provides complete coverage of both basic and advanced topics. Following in the footsteps of Dirac's classic work Principles of Quantum Mechanics, it explains all themes from first principles.The authors present alternative ways of representing the state of a physical system,

The Quantum Mechanics Solver is unique as it illustrates the application of quantum mechanical concepts to various fields of modern physics. It aims at encouraging the reader to apply quantum mechanics to research problems in fields such as molecular physics, condensed matter physics or laser physics. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students will find a rich and challenging source of material for further exploration.