Quantum Mechanics

Description

P.J.E. Peebles teaches the often counterintuitive physics of quantum mechanics by working through detailed applications of general ideas. A principal example used in th book is the hyperfine structure of atomic hydrogen (the 21cm line): the computation of the energy splitting and the induced and spontaneous transition rates. Peebles makes room for such calculations by omitting unneeded elements that can be readily found in the standard treaties after one fully understands the principles of quantum mechanics. To give a flavour of the discovery of the remarkable world picture of quantum mechanics, the author presents a set of examples of physics that are well worth knowing even aside from thier historical interest. Then the general principles of quantum mechanics are stated first in terms of wave mechanics and then in the standard abstract linear space formalism. Measurement theory, an essential part of quantum mechanics, is discussed in some detail. The book also emphasizes the at of numerical estimates. And, lastly, a large number of problems are presented, some easy, some challenging, but all selected because they are physically interesting. The book is designed for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students in physics.

P. J. E. Peebles is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and the author of Cosmology's Century, Principles of Physical Cosmology, and Physical Cosmology (all Princeton). He is the Albert Einstein Professor of Science Emeritus in the Department of Physics at Princeton University.

"Peebles applies quantum theory, often in simple, approximate ways, to a variety of interesting problems ... [It] could prove quite a rewarding book for the more able and motivated student."--New Scientist