Introductory Quantum Mechanics (4th Edition) [Hardcover]

Richard Liboff (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805387145 | ISBN-13: 978-0805387148 | Publication Date: August 18, 2002 | Edition: 4

Careful and detailed explanations of challenging concepts in Introductory Quantum Mechanics, Fourth Edition, and comprehensive and up-to-date coverage, continue to set the standard in physics education. In the new edition of this best-selling quantum mechanics book, a new chapter on the revolutionary topic of of quantum computing (not currently covered in any other book at this level) and thorough updates to the rest of the book bring it up to date.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Careful and detailed explanations of challenging concepts, and comprehensive and up-to-date coverage in this best-selling quantum mechanics book, continue to set the standard in physics education. In this new edition, a new chapter on the revolutionary topic of of quantum computing (not currently covered in any other book at this level) and thorough updates to the rest of the book bring it up to date. For anyone interested physics or quantum mechanics.

About the Author

Dr. Richard Liboff received his Ph.D. in Physics from New York University in 1961 and was appointed to the Physics department at the same university upon graduation. He came to Cornell University in 1964, where he is presently a Full Professor of Applied Physics, Applied Math, and Electrical Engineering. He has served as visiting professor at numerous universities and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1984 in support of a Visiting Professorship of Physics at Tel Aviv University.

He has written over 100 scientific articles and has authored four textbooks. His research specialties include condensed-matter theory, kinetic theory, applied math, and elements of astrophysics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 900 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 4 edition (August 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805387145
• ISBN-13: 978-0805387148
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good text book overall, June 8, 2005

By 

T. Chien "RFIC Design Engineer" (Chandler, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Introductory Quantum Mechanics (4th Edition) (Hardcover)

Places need improvement:

1. Time independent perturbation theory - The justifications for the derivation steps that lead to degenerate case are terrible. The place I learned degenerate perturbation method is from Fayer (Elements of Quantum mechanics).

2. Addition of angular momentum - For a beginner whom has never seen this done, just reading that section about addition of angular momentum, I don't believe one would walk away with anything but confusion. This section seriously needs some rewriting.

Highlights

1. Very complete! This means pretty much anything that one would encounter in undergrad quantum mechanics course is included here, in contrast to Griffith whom enjoys making you work through the exericses and have you arrive the results yourself. Having said that, this is a great book for reference.

2. For 3-D problems, there are many nice tables in the chapter that summarize all the important functions such as Neumann, Hankel, Legendre...etc. Furthermore, many commonly used spherical harmonics functions contained in a giant table is included. Once again, this makes it a great reference book as well.

3. Some harder exercises in the book contain answers or partial answers. The problems are not too hard which allows one to build confidence through solving theml

4. Includes a bonus chapter on quantum computing and a chapter on relativistic quantum mechanics which are both RARE things to be found in introductory textbooks.

5. One BIG chapter devoted to real-world applications...this is usually lacking in physics curriculum!!

Conclusion: As it is with any book out there, there are always good things and bad things about the book, however, there are significantly more good things I can say about this book than its shortcomings....Therefore, BUY this book to learn Quantum!

60 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not For Everyone!, February 22, 2000

By 

Reviewer (Near Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introductory Quantum Mechanics (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

This book is incredibly comprehensive, but I wouldn't recommend it for the typical undergrad. In my experience with the book, I found it annoyingly elitist, like many physics texts. There are plenty of "...the rest is left as an exercise" and "the good student will notice..." comments scattered throughout the book. I would prefer a text with a focus that is not so narrowly centered on physics students. For those of you who are looking for a book on Quantum Mechanics to teach to a fair cross-section of undergraduates (i.e. chemistry students, mathemeticians, and engineers), don't get this book. For example, I was in the class with a friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer (and a good student), who wished to pursue graduate work in nuclear engineering. This book nearly scared him away. Griffiths writes a better text for those of us who can admit that we prefer background, examples, applications, and explicit derivation in a text.

Edit: 12/2004 - Again I find that with the passage of time wisdom and experience gives one perspective. Ironically, even though I was initially turned off by this book, I often use it as a reference. It is an excellent text to accompany both Griffiths' intro book and Merzbacher. Not a great text for a course, but then again.... what quantum text *is* a good book for a quantum course?

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners, January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Introductory Quantum Mechanics (Hardcover)

The first course in quantum mechanics that I took at Berkeley required only the Griffiths book. After realizing how terrible that book was, I picked up the Liboff book and was thoroughly satisfied. Although it is lacking in depth at some points, the subject matter is chosen very well and each section is reasonably self contained (as much as it can be in this subject). The mathematical level is just right for a second/third year physics major as it does a good job introducing new mathematics such as Airy functions, Legendre polynomials, spherical harmonics, and spherical Bessel and Neumann functions. It is also nice to see Liboff give a taste of more advanced topics such as path integration and relativistic quantum mechanics. The treatment of angular momenta and their addition (orbital and spin) is especially good for beginners. All undergraduates in physics would benefit from this text.