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 Physics
The Physics and Mathematics of Waves
A REVIEW OF SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION
THE STRETCHED STRING EQUATION OF MOTION
STANDING 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 Mechanics
The One-Dimensional Schrödinger Equations
THE TIME-DEPENDENT SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION
THE TIME-INDEPENDENT SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
THE INFINITE SQUARE WELL
THE FINITE SQUARE WELL
QUANTUM MECHANICAL TUNNELLING
THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR
The Three-Dimensional Schrödinger Equations
THE WAVE EQUATIONS
SEPARATION IN CARTESIAN COORDINATES
SEPARATION IN SPHERICAL POLAR COORDINATES
THE HYDROGENIC ATOM
Formal Foundations
The Basic Postulates of Quantum Mechanics
THE 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 Schemes
Time Dependence
TIME-INDEPENDENT HAMILTONIANS
THE SUDDEN APPROXIMATION
TIME-DEPENDENT PERTURBATION THEORY
TRANSITIONS 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 Topics
Quantum Information
QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY
ENTANGLEMENT
CLONING AND TELEPORTATION
QUANTUM COMPUTING
The Conceptual Problems of Quantum Mechanics
THE CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS
HIDDEN-VARIABLE THEORIES
NONLOCALITY
THE QUANTUM MEASUREMENT PROBLEM
THE ONTOLOGICAL PROBLEM
Problems appear at the end of each chapter.
Biography
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.
"The sixth edition of Alastair Rae’s Quantum Mechanics (co-authored by Jim Napolitano) is a valid undergraduate-level introductory text. Well suited for students in Chemistry, Materials Science, and Engineering…now the book is divided into 5 conceptual "Parts", which helps teachers in selecting only the topics which are more suitable for the background of their students… Chapter 15, indeed, provides an accessible introduction to present-day "hot" research areas (quantum cryptography, quantum computing, teleportation), even working out some simple but intriguing examples, likely to stimulate further interest in Quantum Mechanics…the last chapter of the book deals with conceptual problems in Quantum Mechanics. Here authors present a beautiful, in-depth analysis of the concept of quantum measurement, analyzing consequences also at the philosophical level."
—Francesco Montalenti, Università di Milano Bicocca, in Il Nuovo Saggiatore, Vol 33, anno 2017, no. 3-4"This is a great introductory text to quantum mechanics with thorough explanations of the derivations. Several introductory chapters are especially useful to students with a weak background in physics. The material is well presented and contains numerous worked out problems and application examples. This can be a good reference book for modern physics laboratory classes as well."
—Professor V.F. Mitrovic, Brown University"I expect this book will become a very popular and valuable text for students and instructors alike in undergraduate quantum mechanics. In part one, the authors give a helpful review of the physics—from classical waves to special relativity—that provides the necessary foundations for learning quantum mechanics. Together, parts two, three, and four then offer well-structured, splendidly written, and comprehensive coverage of undergraduate quantum mechanics, from the Schrödinger equation and its various applications, through the postulates and the formalism, to spin, perturbation theory, many-particle systems, and a very nice introduction on relativistic quantum theory. Part four provides a unique and enjoyable tour of selected advanced topics, including quantum computing and conceptual issues within quantum theory. Along the way, the authors incorporate a good number of worked examples. The end-of-chapter problems are well chosen to help with student learning. … both students and instructors will greatly appreciate this instructive, comprehensive, and gorgeously written text."
—Tim Gorringe, Professor of Physics, University of Kentucky"This text provides an updated treatment of quantum mechanics, suitable for the standard senior-level undergraduate course at U.S. colleges and universities. The text has many worked examples and a full topic coverage, including Maxwell’s equations (which is a topic often left out of competing textbooks). Notable features are the section on indistinguishable particles, applications such as MRI and superconductivity, and scattering (which students often have difficulty with)."
—Dr. Pete Markowitz, Professor, Department of Physics, Florida International University"The new sixth edition of this well-known textbook should be thought of as one of the best options available for undergraduate quantum mechanics courses, among a very large class of introductory books. New sections, which review the physics of waves, electricity and magnetism, and special relativity, lay the groundwork for the following chapters, which span the range from traditional quantum mechanics topics (the 1D time-independent Schrödinger equation, hydrogenic atoms, angular momentum theory, and time-independent and time-dependent perturbation theory) to more advanced topics, including scattering theory, the Dirac equation, and new topics in quantum information theory. Detailed worked examples and asides on associated applications of the principles discussed (including the physical basis of magnetic resonance imaging, electron microscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy) enhance the educational aspects of this book."
—Aaron Lindenberg, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering/Photon Science, Stanford University/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory"There are many excellent quantum mechanics textbooks on the market. The book by Rae and Napolitano distinguishes itself with a unique approach by including more materials on practical applications of the theoretical concepts detailed in the text. This book can be a great choice of textbook for upper class undergraduate students in physics or students entering graduate studies in engineering schools."
—Professor Chunhui Chen, Iowa State University"This is a very versatile textbook, which could be used in a variety of courses ranging from an ‘honors’ introductory course to a challenging undergraduate upper-class course. Concise but very readable reviews of classical waves, electromagnetism, and relativity are provided. The coverage of quantum mechanics spans elementary wave mechanics, formal theory, perturbation theory, and the Dirac equation. The book is divided into parts, making it easy for an instructor to choose the relevant material based on the level of the class."
—Robert Pelcovits, Professor of Physics, Brown University