Quantum Mechanics Foundations And Applications

The first edition of this book was written as a text and has been used many times in a one-year graduate quantum mechanics course. One of the reviewers has made me aware that the book can also serve as, " . . . in principle, a handbook of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. " In the second edition we have therefore added material to enhance its usefulness as a handbook. But it can still be used as a text if certain chapters and sections are ignored. We have also revised the original presentation, in many places at the suggestion of students or colleagues. As a consequence, the contents of the book now exceed the material that can be covered in a one-year quantum mechanics course on the graduate level. But one can easily select the material for a one-year course omitting-according to one's preference-one or several of the following sets of sections: {1. 7, XXI}, {X, XI} or just {XI}, {II. 7, XIII}, {XIV. 5, XV}, {XIX, XX}. Also the material of Sections 1. 5-1. 8 is not needed to start with the physics in Chapter II. Chapters XI, XIII, XIX, and XX are probably the easiest to dispense with and I was contemplating the deletion of some of them, but each chapter found enthusiastic supporters among the readers who advised against it. Chapter I-augmented with some applications from later chapters-can also be used as a separate introductory text on the mathematics of quantum mechanics.

This edition differs from the second chiefly in the addition of about 100 pages devoted to the quantum (or geometric, or Berry) phase, a subject that did not exist when this book was written. The changes in the remainder of the book consist of corrections of a small number of misprints. While it may seem that adding two chapters on the quantum phase is overemphasizing a currently fashionable subject, they actually complete the development of quantum theory as given in this book. We start with simple models, synthesizing them into complicated "molecules." With the new chap ters. we end with complicated "molecules," dividing them into simpler parts. This process of dividing a complex system into parts quite naturally gives rise to a gauge theory, of which the geometric phase is a manifestation - with consequences not only in theory, but observable in experiments. For this rea son, the geometric phase is not a mere fashion, but a discovery that will retain its importance forever and must be discussed in textbooks on quantum mechanics. to acknowledge help and advice from Mark Loewe with the I would like writing and also of the new part of the book. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to J. Anandan, M. Berry, and c.A. Mead, who have read parts or all of the new material and have provided valuable advice.

Progressing from the fundamentals of quantum mechanics (QM) to more complicated topics, Quantum Mechanics: Foundations and Applications provides advanced undergraduate and graduate students with a comprehensive examination of many applications that pertain to modern physics and engineering. Based on courses taught by the author, this textboo

This text attempts to present the whole range of quantum mechanics, from the fundamental assumptions to the experimental numbers. The author presents a unified theoretical formulation and includes examples from recent research. Earlier editions of this text have become a standard text and reference work; it has been reprinted and translated. In this third edition, the author has made some minor corrections of the previous edition and has added two new chapters: one on quantal phase factors and their consequences (the "Berry phase") and another on the gauge theory of molecular physics.

A complete overview of quantum mechanics, covering essential concepts and results, theoretical foundations, and applications. This undergraduate textbook offers a comprehensive overview of quantum mechanics, beginning with essential concepts and results, proceeding through the theoretical foundations that provide the field’s conceptual framework, and concluding with the tools and applications students will need for advanced studies and for research. Drawn from lectures created for MIT undergraduates and for the popular MITx online course, “Mastering Quantum Mechanics,” the text presents the material in a modern and approachable manner while still including the traditional topics necessary for a well-rounded understanding of the subject. As the book progresses, the treatment gradually increases in difficulty, matching students’ increasingly sophisticated understanding of the material. • Part 1 covers states and probability amplitudes, the Schrödinger equation, energy eigenstates of particles in potentials, the hydrogen atom, and spin one-half particles • Part 2 covers mathematical tools, the pictures of quantum mechanics and the axioms of quantum mechanics, entanglement and tensor products, angular momentum, and identical particles. • Part 3 introduces tools and techniques that help students master the theoretical concepts with a focus on approximation methods. • 236 exercises and 286 end-of-chapter problems • 248 figures

This edition differs from the second chiefly in the addition of about 100 pages devoted to the quantum (or geometric, or Berry) phase, a subject that did not exist when this book was written. The changes in the remainder of the book consist of corrections of a small number of misprints. While it may seem that adding two chapters on the quantum phase is overemphasizing a currently fashionable subject, they actually complete the development of quantum theory as given in this book. We start with simple models, synthesizing them into complicated "molecules." With the new chap ters. we end with complicated "molecules," dividing them into simpler parts. This process of dividing a complex system into parts quite naturally gives rise to a gauge theory, of which the geometric phase is a manifestation - with consequences not only in theory, but observable in experiments. For this rea son, the geometric phase is not a mere fashion, but a discovery that will retain its importance forever and must be discussed in textbooks on quantum mechanics. to acknowledge help and advice from Mark Loewe with the I would like writing and also of the new part of the book. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to J. Anandan, M. Berry, and c.A. Mead, who have read parts or all of the new material and have provided valuable advice.

Quantum mechanics and the theory of operators on Hilbert space have been deeply linked since their beginnings in the early twentieth century. States of a quantum system correspond to certain elements of the configuration space and observables correspond to certain operators on the space. This book is a brief, but self-contained, introduction to the mathematical methods of quantum mechanics, with a view towards applications to Schrodinger operators. Part 1 of the book is a concise introduction to the spectral theory of unbounded operators. Only those topics that will be needed for later applications are covered. The spectral theorem is a central topic in this approach and is introduced at an early stage. Part 2 starts with the free Schrodinger equation and computes the free resolvent and time evolution. Position, momentum, and angular momentum are discussed via algebraic methods. Various mathematical methods are developed, which are then used to compute the spectrum of the hydrogen atom. Further topics include the nondegeneracy of the ground state, spectra of atoms, and scattering theory. This book serves as a self-contained introduction to spectral theory of unbounded operators in Hilbert space with full proofs and minimal prerequisites: Only a solid knowledge of advanced calculus and a one-semester introduction to complex analysis are required. In particular, no functional analysis and no Lebesgue integration theory are assumed. It develops the mathematical tools necessary to prove some key results in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics is intended for beginning graduate students in both mathematics and physics and provides a solid foundation for reading more advanced books and current research literature. It is well suited for self-study and includes numerous exercises (many with hints).

This 2004 textbook provides a pedagogical introduction to the formalism, foundations and applications of quantum mechanics. Part I covers the basic material which is necessary to understand the transition from classical to wave mechanics. Topics include classical dynamics, with emphasis on canonical transformations and the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, the Cauchy problem for the wave equation, Helmholtz equation and eikonal approximation, introduction to spin, perturbation theory and scattering theory. The Weyl quantization is presented in Part II, along with the postulates of quantum mechanics. Part III is devoted to topics such as statistical mechanics and black-body radiation, Lagrangian and phase-space formulations of quantum mechanics, and the Dirac equation. This book is intended for use as a textbook for beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate courses. It is self-contained and includes problems to aid the reader's understanding.