The Picture Book of Quantum Mechanics - Hardcover

Brandt, Siegmund; Dahmen, Hans D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387943803 ISBN 13: 9780387943800

Publisher: Springer, 1998

Synopsis

In studying classical mechanics, students are often helped by the fact that intuitions developed in everday life can give one a good idea of the behavior of the idealized objects dealt with in introductory courses. In addition, equations encountered are sufficiently simple to solve even in relatively complex situations that students can further develop their intution by solving problems. In learning quantum theory, however, intutions developed for the classical world fail, and the equations to be solved are sufficiently complex that they can readily be solved without a computer only for the simplest situations. This book represents an attempt to jump the hurdle to an intuitive understanding of wave mechanics by using illustrations profusely to present the time evolution and parameter dependence of wave functions in a wide variety of situations. Most of the illustrations are computer-generated solutions of the Schr dinger equation for one- and three-dimensional systems. The situations discussed range from the simple particle in a box through resonant scattering in one dimension to the hydrogen atom and Regge classification of resonant scattering. This edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include a discussion of spin and magnetic resonance.

About this title

Review:

From the reviews of the fourth edition:

“This book is aimed at beginners in quantum mechanics who want to gain some insight into the various physical phenomena which happen at the (sub)atomic scale, and for which no daily experience is available. It will serve as a good complement to standard textbooks of quantum mechanics since it contains many carefully produced pictures to illustrate the fundamental concepts and ideas from quantum physics––highlighting in particular how the concepts and predictions of classical mechanics are altered and supplemented by wavelike behaviors.” (Gabriel Stoltz, Mathematical Reviews, May, 2013)

From the Back Cover:

The aim of this book is to explain the basic concepts and phenomena of quantum mechanics by means of visualization. Computer-generated illustrations in color are used extensively throughout the text, helping to establish the relation between quantum mechanics―wave functions, interference, atomic structure, and so forth―and classical physics―point mechanics, statistical mechanics, and wave optics. Even more important, by studying the pictures in parallel with the text, readers develop an intuition for such notoriously abstract phenomena as
· the tunnel effect
· excitation and decay of metastable states
· wave-packet motion within a well
· systems of distinguishable and indistinguishable particles
· free wave packets and scattering in 3 dimensions
· angular-momentum decomposition
· stationary bound states in various 3-dimensional potentials
· hybrid states
· Kepler motion of wave packets in the Coulomb field
· spin and magnetic resonance

Illustrations from experiments in a variety of fields, including chemistry, and molecular, atomic, nuclear, and particle physics, underline the basic as well as the practical importance of quantum mechanics.

In the present, fourth edition all computer graphics are presented in full color. It also contains additional physics topics such as hybridization.

Praise for Previous Editions

"The book is highly recommended as a complement to any standard textbook in quantum mechanics, but it will also be valuable to all of us who studied quantum mechanics without the pictures." ― International Journal of Quantum Chemistry

"This book would be an excellent basis for the study of special topics in a quantum physics course. Most serious students of physics and all of their teachers will want to consider having this orderly and graphic outline of introductory quantum theory at their fingertips." ― American Journal of Physics

"Their aim is the presentation of the 'principal ideas of wave mechanics' in such a way that students can build a quantum intuition out of their graphics." ― Scientific American

"This is a unique book. It does not provide a complete course in quantum theory, but as a companion work of reference it should be quite useful to students in providing insights into the dynamical structure of the theory." ― Nature

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0387943803
• ISBN 13: 9780387943800
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 423