440 Pages 74 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    440 Pages
    by CRC Press

    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