Quantum mechanics : an experimentalist's approach / Eugene D. Commins, Professor of Physics, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Commins, Eugene D., author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantum theory.

Physical Description:

xiii, 680 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm

regular print

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Summary:

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 UC Berkeley, instruction is supported by over 160 challenging problems to illustrate concepts and provide students with ample opportunity to test their knowledge and understanding.

Contents:

Mathematical preliminaries

The rules of quantum mechanics

The connection between the fundamental rules and wave mechanics

Further illustrations of the rules of quantum mechanics

Further developments in one-dimensional wave mechanics

The theory of angular momentum

Wave mechanics in three dimensions: hydrogenic atoms

Time-independent approximations for bound state problems

Applications of static perturbation theory

Identical particles

Atomic structure

Molecules

The stability of matter

Photons

Interaction of non-relativistic charged particles and radiation

Further topics in perturbation theory

Scattering

Special relativity and quantum mechanics: the Klein-Gordon equation

The Dirac equation

Interaction of a relativistic spin 1/2 particle with an external electromagnetic field

The Dirac field

Interaction between relativistic electrons, positrons, and photons

The quantum mechanics of weak interactions

The quantum measurement problem.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 671-672) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

110706399X

9781107063990

OCLC:

869343873

Publisher Number:

99964222782