Quantum Mechanics

A Thorough Update of One of the Most Highly Regarded Textbooks on Quantum Mechanics Continuing to offer an exceptionally clear, up-to-date treatment of the subject, Quantum Mechanics, Sixth Edition explains the concepts of quantum mechanics for undergraduate students in physics and related disciplines and provides the foundation necessary for other specialized courses. This sixth edition builds on its highly praised predecessors to make the text even more accessible to a wider audience. It is now divided into five parts that separately cover broad topics suitable for any general course on quantum mechanics. New to the Sixth Edition Three chapters that review prerequisite physics and mathematics, laying out the notation, formalism, and physical basis necessary for the rest of the book Short descriptions of numerous applications relevant to the physics discussed, giving students a brief look at what quantum mechanics has made possible industrially and scientifically Additional end-of-chapter problems with different ranges of difficulty This exemplary text shows students how cutting-edge theoretical topics are applied to a variety of areas, from elementary atomic physics and mathematics to angular momentum and time dependence to relativity and quantum computing. Many examples and exercises illustrate the principles and test students’ understanding.

Waves, Electromagnetism, and the Limits of Classical PhysicsThe Physics and Mathematics of Waves A REVIEW OF SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION THE STRETCHED STRING EQUATION OF MOTIONSTANDING WAVES AND FOURIER SERIES THE FOURIER TRANSFORM PROBLEMS Maxwell’s Equation and Electromagnetic Waves MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS AS INTEGRALS SURFACE THEOREMS IN VECTOR CALCULUS MAXWELL’S EQUATION AS DERIVATIVES ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION Particle Mechanics, Relativity, and Photons NEWTON, MAXWELL, AND EINSTEIN SPACETIME IN SPECIAL RELATIVITY VELOCITY, MOMENTUM, AND ENERGY The Early Development of Quantum Mechanics THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT THE COMPTON EFFECT LINE SPECTRA AND ATOMIC STRUCTURE DE BROGLIE WAVES WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY THE REST OF THIS BOOK Elementary Wave MechanicsThe One-Dimensional Schrödinger Equations THE TIME-DEPENDENT SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION THE TIME-INDEPENDENT SCHRÖDINGER EQUATIONBOUNDARY CONDITIONS THE INFINITE SQUARE WELL THE FINITE SQUARE WELL QUANTUM MECHANICAL TUNNELLING THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR The Three-Dimensional Schrödinger EquationsTHE WAVE EQUATIONS SEPARATION IN CARTESIAN COORDINATES SEPARATION IN SPHERICAL POLAR COORDINATES THE HYDROGENIC ATOM Formal FoundationsThe Basic Postulates of Quantum MechanicsTHE WAVE FUNCTION THE DYNAMICAL VARIABLES PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS COMMUTATION RELATIONS THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE THE TIME DEPENDENCE OF THE WAVE FUNCTION DEGENERACY THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR AGAIN THE MEASUREMENT OF MOMENTUM BY COMPTON SCATTERING Angular Momentum I THE ANGULAR-MOMENTUM OPERATORS THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM EIGENVALUES AND EIGENFUNCTIONS THE EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM A GENERAL SOLUTION TO THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM EIGENVALUE PROBLEM Angular Momentum II MATRIX REPRESENTATIONS PAULI SPIN MATRICES SPIN AND THE QUANTUM THEORY OF MEASUREMENT DIRAC NOTATION SPIN-ORBIT COUPLING AND THE ZEEMAN EFFECT A MORE GENERAL TREATMENT OF THE COUPLING OF ANGULAR MOMENTA Time-Independent Perturbation Theory and the Variational Principle PERTURBATION THEORY FOR NONDEGENERATE ENERGY LEVELS PERTURBATION THEORY FOR DEGENERATE ENERGY LEVELS THE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE Extensions and Approximation SchemesTime Dependence TIME-INDEPENDENT HAMILTONIANS THE SUDDEN APPROXIMATION TIME-DEPENDENT PERTURBATION THEORYTRANSITIONS BETWEEN ATOMIC ENERGY LEVELS THE EHRENFEST THEOREM THE AMMONIA MASER Scattering SCATTERING IN ONE DIMENSION SCATTERING IN THREE DIMENSIONS THE BORN APPROXIMATION PARTIAL WAVE ANALYSIS Many-Particle Systems GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ISOLATED SYSTEMS NONINTERACTING PARTICLES INDISTINGUISHABLE PARTICLES MANY-PARTICLE SYSTEMS THE HELIUM ATOM SCATTERING OF IDENTICAL PARTICLES Relativity and Quantum Mechanics BASIC RESULTS IN SPECIAL RELATIVITY THE DIRAC EQUATION ANTIPARTICLES OTHER WAVE EQUATIONS QUANTUM FIELD THEORY AND THE SPIN-STATISTICS THEOREM Advanced TopicsQuantum Information QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY ENTANGLEMENT CLONING AND TELEPORTATION QUANTUM COMPUTING The Conceptual Problems of Quantum MechanicsTHE CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS HIDDEN-VARIABLE THEORIES NONLOCALITY THE QUANTUM MEASUREMENT PROBLEM THE ONTOLOGICAL PROBLEM Problems appear at the end of each chapter.

Alastair I.M. Rae retired as a reader in quantum physics from the University of Birmingham. He first taught quantum mechanics in the 1970s, which led to the publication of the first edition of this book. He has conducted research in many areas of condensed matter physics, including superconductivity and its "high temperature" manifestations. Jim Napolitano is a professor of physics at Temple University. His research field is experimental nuclear and particle physics, focusing primarily on studies of fundamental interactions. He also is interested in modern instructional techniques and has published two textbooks on advanced topics in physics.