Quantum Mechanics
An Experimentalist's Approach

A self-contained introduction for advanced students in physics who want to acquire serious knowledge and understanding of quantum mechanics.

Eugene D. Commins (Author)

9781107063990, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2014

720 pages, 181 b/w illus. 18 tables 294 exercises
26 x 21 x 3 cm, 1.82 kg

Eugene D. Commins takes an experimentalist's approach to quantum mechanics, preferring to use concrete physical explanations over formal, abstract descriptions to address the needs and interests of a diverse group of students. Keeping physics at the foreground and explaining difficult concepts in straightforward language, Commins examines the many modern developments in quantum physics, including Bell's inequalities, locality, photon polarization correlations, the stability of matter, Casimir forces, geometric phases, Aharonov–Bohm and Aharonov–Casher effects, magnetic monopoles, neutrino oscillations, neutron interferometry, the Higgs mechanism, and the electroweak standard model. The text is self-contained, covering the necessary background on atomic and molecular structure in addition to the traditional topics. Developed from the author's well-regarded course notes for his popular first-year graduate course at the University of California, Berkeley, instruction is supported by over 160 challenging problems to illustrate concepts and provide students with ample opportunity to test their knowledge and understanding.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Mathematical preliminaries
3. The rules of quantum mechanics
4. The connection between the fundamental rules and wave mechanics
5. Further illustrations of the rules of quantum mechanics
6. Further developments in one-dimensional wave mechanics
7. The theory of angular momentum
8. Wave mechanics in three dimensions: hydrogenic atoms
9. Time-independent approximations for bound state problems
10. Applications of static perturbation theory
11. Identical particles
12. Atomic structure
13. Molecules
14. The stability of matter
15. Photons
16. Interaction of non-relativistic charged particles and radiation
17. Further topics in perturbation theory
18. Scattering
19. Special relativity and quantum mechanics: the Klein–Gordon equation
20. The Dirac equation
21. Interaction of a relativistic spin ½ particle with an external electromagnetic field
22. The Dirac field
23. Interaction between relativistic electrons, positrons, and photons
24. The quantum mechanics of weak interactions
25. The quantum measurement problem
Appendix A: useful inequalities for quantum mechanics
Appendix B: Bell's inequality
Appendix C: spin of the photon: vector spherical waves
Works cited
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Quantum physics [quantum mechanics & quantum field theory PHQ], Particle & high-energy physics [PHP], Nuclear physics [PHN], Atomic & molecular physics [PHM], Physics [PH], Mathematics & science [P]