Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics [Hardcover]

Bernd Thaller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387207775 | ISBN-13: 978-0387207773 | Publication Date: November 30, 2004 | Edition: 2005

Visual Quantum Mechanics is a systematic effort to investigate and to teach quantum mechanics with the aid of computer-generated animations. Although it is self-contained, this book is part of a two-volume set on Visual Quantum Mechanics. The first book appeared in 2000, and earned the European Academic Software Award in 2001 for oustanding innovation in its field. While topics in book one mainly concerned quantum mechanics in one- and two-dimensions, book two sets out to present three-dimensional systems, the hydrogen atom, particles with spin, and relativistic particles. Together the two volumes constitute a complete course in quantum mechanics that places an emphasis on ideas and concepts, with a fair to moderate amount of mathematical rigor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "Each chapter provides an overview and highlights recent advances in its particular area. … there are several valuable tidbits for potential new uses of existing techniques such as atomic force microscopy. This book will serve as a valuable reference for anyone working with microfluidics or biochip devices … ." (Jamie Quinton, Australian Physics, Vol. 42 (4), September/October, 2005) "Advanced visual quantum mechanics is a systematic effort to investigate and to teach quantum mechanics with the aid of computer generated animations. …Furthermore, in each chapter, within the text the reader can find about 20-30 exercises – without solutions, but most of them rather straightforward to solve. … Advanced visual quantum mechanics can be recommended as an excellent textbook … ." (H. Hogreve, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2006 g) "I insist that this book is much more than a gallery of animated illustrations: the author tried and succeeded in presenting quantum theory in a completely original way. … this book would be one of the best introductions ever written about quantum mechanics. No need to conclude that this book is a must even for the undergraduate student. Teachers will appreciate to renew the presentation of their courses." (André Hautot, Physicalia, Vol. 28 (4-6), 2006)

From the Back Cover

Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics is a systematic effort to investigate and to teach quantum mechanics with the aid of computer-generated animations. It is a self-contained textbook that combines selected topics from atomic physics (spherical symmetry, the hydrogen atom, and particles with spin) with an introduction to quantum information theory (qubits, EPR paradox, teleportation, quantum computers). It explores relativistic quantum mechanics and the strange behavior of Dirac equation solutions. A series of appendices covers important topics from perturbation and scattering theory. The book places an emphasis on ideas and concepts, with a fair to moderate amount of mathematical rigor. Though this book stands alone, it can also be paired with Thaller Visual Quantum Mechanics to form a comprehensive course in quantum mechanics. The software for the first book earned the European Academic Software Award 2000 for outstanding innovation in its field. The CD-ROM accompanying this book contains a much-improved version of this award-winning software and includes about 300 QuickTime movies and interactive simulations. The point-and-click interface is no more difficult than using the internet and is equally useful for self-study and classroom presentations. The visualization method displays all essential information about the quantum state in an intuitive way and will greatly enhance the reader's understanding of quantum mechanics. The animations shift the emphasis from stationary states towards quantum dynamics and help students and researchers alike to get an intuitive feeling for quantum processes that is hard to obtain from mathematical formulas alone. In addition, 3D-visualization software and hundreds of Mathematica® notebooks and packages are provided for the reader's own ventures into the field of quantum-mechanical visualizations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 520 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2005 edition (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387207775
• ISBN-13: 978-0387207773
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,763,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most complete courses in Quantum Mechanics in the market, February 28, 2011

By 

Ruben Rodriguez Abril (Seville, Spain) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics (Hardcover)

This book is the second part of a complete course in Quantum Mechanics that Mr. Thaller offers his readers. I would recommend this book to both students and physicists on the following grounds:

a) This course brings a CONCEPTUAL exposition of the quantum world, which is accompained by the illustrations and the movies of the CDs. When I bought the second part of the course, I was dissapointed because there was no CD in the book as promised in the cover. However, I learned that Springer Verlag had already launched a platform where one could download all the extra material for free.

b) This course offers both a visual and an analytical interpretation of many quantum functions and variables, like the quantum numbers n, l and m, or the components of a spinor. After having read the sections dedicated to Spherical Harmonics, I could guess the quantum numbers of a certain state just by watching its graphical plot and counting the number of nodes it had.

d) Several mathematical concepts, like Hilbert spaces, unitary transformations, domain and range of operators and spectral supersymmetry, which are only tangentially treated in other books, are properly explained in this one.

e) This work introduces the reader in the realms of Quantum Information, Quantum Computation and even Quantum Cryptograpy. The reader is introduced in logic quantum gates like CNOT and TOFFOLI, and in several quantum algorithms, like the Deutsch-Jozsa one.

f) Finally, the author gives a proper treatment of the Dirac equation, offering thus the reader some insights in Quantum Electrodynamics.

For these reasons, this book deserves in my opinion to be in the personal library of person interested in the quantum world.