Customer Reviews

Quantum Mechanics: Fundamentals (Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a high level, formal treatment of quantum mechanics. It is very elegant and there are many things in this book that are not covered in many other grad level quantum text books. For example, the nice treatment of the Kepler problem using F+, F- operators, a lengthy discussion of the interpration of QM/entangled states, etc, or a good treatment of the Landau levels in both symmetric and landau gauge. The emphasis on the ideas of the rotation group, Wigner-Eckhart, etc are also very nice. However, user beware, the textbook skips steps, sometimes lacks clarity, and may assume mathematics and quantum that you dont have yet. This is not a casual read. You should have a piece of paper in front of you to work through the steps. But I can assure you that in the end it is very worthwhile and gives you a glimpse into what makes quantum mechanics very beautiful and elegant.

If you have read Griffiths before this you may not be prepared. Try Shankar first then move onto this book.

This is the most complete book on the fundamentals of the quantum mechanics, it's focused on the theoretical foundations and too on the principal experimental facts behind the theory, but it's a graduate level, demanding some background on the wave mechanics often viewed at undergraduate courses on quantum mechanics...the beginning formal mathematical framework can be complemented by Sakurai's Modern Quantum Mechanics but the main theory there is no other book with the same level of insight and ingenuity. Highly recommended!

This is a complete , modern QM book ...

Authors discuss issues which are usually missed in other QM textbooks .

Not for beginner ... This is rather 2nd or 3rd reading ....

So we where incouraged to buy this book for an advanced graduate level course in QM. I wouldn't recommend it though. I feel it is a hard book and that the explanations are often very unclear. All toghether however it does cover a lot of material which you may not find on analogous books. It was apparently chosen for this course because from a survey it came out as the best graduate level book to learn QM. I don't know, I'm glad I actually knew quite a bit of QM before starting to use this book otherwise it would have been a disaster.

Given the plethora of books on Quantum Mechanics, it is hard to pick a favourite. Gottfried and Yan's book is by no means the best though it is my personal favourite. There are other excellent books as well right from Dirac's classic text to more modern works such as Sakurai.

One of the things that is most impressive about this book is the way it starts. Most books go into a discussion of the mathematics of quantum mechanics such as linear algebra, etc. (notably in Shankar) But this book actually focuses on pure physics and demonstrates the wave-particle duality by means of the double-slit experiment.

The second chapter called "Formal Framework" is quite dense and contains almost all the mathematics necessary followed by an equally dense discussion of angular momenta, etc. The section on low-dimensional systems contains a wide range of topics, thrown together in a somewhat idiosyncratic manner. This is followed by a nice discussion of hydrogenic and two-electron atoms. Then there is a powerful chapter on the discussion of symmetries and a discussion of the consequences. This is followed by two compact yet exhaustive chapters on scattering theory. And then the application of quantum mechanics to electrodynamics and statistics is presented. And one of the gems of the book, a chapter on Interpretation is present which very few books present in such a clear and concise manner. This is followed by a brief introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics.

The book is very economical in its choice of words and is very dense as a whole. People looking for a lot of detailed derivations and explanations will be better off looking elsewhere. What Gottfried and Yan do is to present the framework of quantum mechanics and its application to a wide range of topics in a self-contained and beautiful book.

Whenever looking up something about quantum mechanics I start with Gottfried. Measurement theory, angular momenta, elementary scattering theory - all are well done.

The book would be more useful if Gottfried had ever finished the second part of it! Several sections are lead-ins to material which was intended for a second volume.

Quantum mechanics taught from the point of view that mathematics leads and concepts follow. This is great if you already know the concepts or are very gifted at math, but it is not for the average student unless supplemented. (Consider Shankar.) A lot of ground is covered rapidly in this book, so it might be a very good reference for an experienced researcher.