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Intermediate Quantum Mechanics (Advanced Book Classics)
Hans A. Bethe , and Roman Jackiw Manufacturer: Westview Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0201328313 |
Book Description
Graduate students in both theoretical and experimental physics will find this third edition of Intermediate Quantum Mechanics, refined and updated in 1986, indispensable. The first part of the book deals with the theory of atomic structure, while the second and third parts deal with the relativistic wave equations and introduction to field theory. Throughout its nearly thirty-five years in print, Intermediate Quantum Mechanics has consistently offered more complete coverage of applications of quantum mechanics than any other single-volume work on the subject.Customer Reviews:
very good.......2004-03-03
A good overview.......2003-01-31
Chapter 1 is a brief overview of elementary quantum mechanics, and the authors set down the notation and units to be followed in the book. They state the main goal of the book, which is to solve the Schrodinger equation for an atom with nuclear charge Ze. This problem for one-electron is straightforwardly solved, but for more than one electron approximation techniques must be used, a few of which they mention. Since spin will have to be dealt with throughout the book, the authors include a description of spin 1/2 particles.
In chapter 2 the authors discuss the use of symmetry principles in quantum many-particle systems, pointing out the origin of exchange degeneracy and the Pauli exclusion principle. The authors also give an interesting discussion of the experimental determination of symmetry, particularly their argument for the absence of hidden variables.
In chapter 3 the authors give an overview of the quantum mechanics of two-electron atoms, pointing out that the calculations give six-figure agreement between theory and experiment. Perturbation and variational methods are used to solve the Schrodinger equation for this system, and show the origin of the triplet and singlet levels for the helium atom.
In chapter 4, the authors introduce another approximation technique, the self-consistent field or "Hartree-Fock" method, in order to calculate the excited states for the two-electron atom more efficiently. This approach involves using a variational trial function, called the determinantal wave function, as an ansatz, which because of orthogonality and parity considerations, results in a set of equations, called the Hartree-Fock equations, for the single electron orbitals. The "exchange term" in these equations is discussed in detail, involving a notion of a "nonlocal" potential. The physical significance of the eigenvalue in these equations is also discussed, and related to the famous Koopman theorem. It is proven also that atoms with closed shells leads to a spherically symmetric theory. The periodic table is shown to be a consequence of the Pauli principle and the Hartree-Fock calculation.
An improvement to Hartree-Fock, the Thomas-Fermi method, which does not include exchange, is discussed in chapter 5. Classified as a "statistical method", this method finds the effective potential energy experienced by a small test charge, along with the electron density around the nucleus. The authors show how exchange effects can be included using a procedure due to P.A.M. Dirac, which uses a concept of effective exchange potential, and one due to W. Lenz, which is a constrained optimization procedure, requiring that the total energy be stationary.
In order to remove the degeneracy in the atomic shells due to the Hartree-Fock approximation, the authors view it as a perturbation expansion in chapter 6, with the unperturbed Hamiltonian being the Hartree-Fock central field Hamiltonian, and the perturbation being the electrostatic interaction of the electrons minus a suitable average of it. The search for proper linear combinations of zero-order degenerate eigenfunctions to make the total Hamiltonian diagonal entails the use of the total orbital and spim angular momentum of all the electrons in the atom. Hence the authors outline in detail how to perform the addition of angular momenta in this chapter. The reader can see clearly the origin of the famous Clebsch-Gordon coefficients. This program is carried out in more detail in chapter 7, wherein the authors considers and atom which has an electron configuration distributed over several complete and one incomplete shell. The incomplete shell gives several different degenerate solutions, and this degeneracy can be removed by the assignment of angular momentum and spin quantum numbers to the orbitals in the shell. This chapter is characterized by a considerable amount of arithmetic in computing matrix elements, which can readily be handled by modern symbolic computation packages.
The contribution of the spin-orbit interaction to the level structure of atoms, ignored in the previous two chapters, is studied in chapter 8. The authors also consider the interaction of the electron configuration with an external field, such as a magnetic field. The spin-orbit interaction is not considered in a relativistic framework, but instead is given a "pseudo-derivation", in the words of the authors. The (correct) Dirac theory for spin-orbit interaction is given later in chapter 22. And here again, the matrix elements, and reduced matrix elements, considered in this chapter can best be handled by symbolic computation packages. This is particularly true for matrix elements of vector operators between states of different angular momentum, which the authors shy away from. The reader though can see the origin of the famous Wigner-Eckart theorem in the context of these computations. The Zeeman effect, resulting from the interaction of an electron with a homogeneous magnetic field, is discussed, along with the Paschen-Back effect, which results from the external magnetic field being strong enough to allow the Zeeman term in the Hamiltonian to dominate the spin-orbit interaction. Also discussed is the Stark effect, which results when an atom is placed in an external electric field. The authors show how to compute the energy shifts in this case, using, but not proving, some formulas due to Condon and Shortly.
Learn to apply your quantum mechanics.......1998-08-19
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Elements of Advanced Quantum Theory
J. M. Ziman Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: ASIN: 0521074584 |
Book Description
This is a textbook of advanced quantum theory for graduate students and research workers which gives a connected mathematical derivation of the important results, concentrating on the central ideas without burdening the exposition with elaborate detail or unnecessary rigour, and explains, in the simplest possible terms, the symbols and concepts which frequently confront the active research worker in solid state, nuclear and high-energy physics, and in theoretical chemistry. Professor Ziman brings to his task the sympathetic guidance of a lecturer who has not forgotten the difficulties that he himself had to surmount in mastering his subject.Customer Reviews:
Good introduction to many-body quantum theory.......2003-02-15
Some of the more unique and interesting discussions in this book that are still relevant today include: 1. The quantization of continuous fields and the treatment of the Rayleigh scattering of phonons. Here one is introducing a point mass into a continuous medium and asking for its effect on the phonon field. The familiar Rayleigh scattering formula is derived, and the author points out that for scattering between modes containing many particles, the transition rate also depends on the state of occupation of the mode into which a phonon is going, which is the familiar stimulated emission. Replacing the point mass by an extended object, such as a grain boundary, and attempting to solve for the phonon scattering is non-trivial and has been the subject of much research. 2. The fermion-boson interaction and the origin of the concept of a "polaron". This arises in the consideration of the interaction of an electron with the optical modes in a polar crystal. The author calculates the self-energy of the fermion in the boson field, and shows it leads to a correction of the relationship between the energy and momentum of the electron, giving the electron an "effective mass". The effective mass is dependent on the mass of the electron and the effective dielectric constant. A polaron is then this "dressed" electron which is "more massive" than the electron because of the electron's interaction with the optical modes. Also, in the context of perturbation theory and the S-matrix, the author eliminates the term in the fermion-boson interaction in order to study purely the properties of the fermion field. This means that the interaction Hamiltonian operates only on the vacuum state for bosons, and thus only excitations of single bosons into and out of the vacuum are considered. This results in an effective interaction between the fermions, due to the exchange of bosons, and this interaction can be attractive or repulsive, depending on the range of momenta. This effective interaction between electrons due to the exchange of virtual phonons is the explanation for superconductivity. The fermion-boson interaction is still of considerable interest in the context of explanations for high-temperature superconductivity. 3. The derivation of the Kubo formula as a first crack at the formulation of transport theory in the quantum realm. The author explains the formula as one that shows that conductivity is an intrinsic property of quantum-mechanical systems, in that the application of a weak electron field will make apparent the time-correlations of the electric current fluctuations in equilibrium. He cautions the reader though that practical calculations may make the use of the Kubo formula problematic. The author returns to the Kubo formula later in his treatment of the spectral representation of the dielectric function, and proves a case of the famous fluctuation-dissipation theorem. A comparison between the Kubo formula shows that dissipation has been expressed in terms of Fourier transform of a two-body time-correlation function which describes the fluctuations in the many-body system. The Kubo formula and its generalizations are still discussed widely in the context of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, quantum transport theory, and the theory of mesoscopic systems. 4. An illustration of the properties of the time-independent Green's function via the consideration of impurity states in a medal. The author introduces a single impurity atom with delta function potential at a fixed point in the metal, and calculates the Green function of the perturbed system in terms of the unperturbed one. The resulting singularities in the Green function motivate the author to consider the role of the strength of the potential, and he shows that for a certain range of this strength, one obtains a bound state or "localized" level. 5. The treatment of the random phase approximation. The author writes the Hamiltonian for an interacting system of fermions in a way that makes the density fluctuations of various wavelengths manifest. Noting the the commutator of the density part with the Hamiltonian results in an intractable problem, he replaces the operator products by expectation values (or ensemble averages for finite temperature). This results in the off-diagonal terms cancelling one another, due to them being randomly out of phase with each other. He then proceeds to solve for the equations of motion of the system, obtaining a dispersion formula for the frequency of a self-consistent excited mode of the system, which he then views as a pole of an approximation to the inverse dielectric function. He mentions, but does not discuss in detail, what this implies for the theory of an electron gas in a metal, namely the phenomenon of dielectric screening and the existence of plasmons. 6. The brief but informative discussion of (zero-temperature) superconductivity. He accounts for the phenomenon by the use of an effective electron-electron interaction which is attractive when the energy difference of the two electron states is small. This interaction is modeled by a small negative constant for momentum transfers between these types of electrons, and zero otherwise. A perturbation calculation then shows that the effect of this interaction is infinite for any pair of electrons with exactly opposite momenta, and thus one obtains a bound state, the famous Cooper pair. The author then goes on to show the existence of an energy gap for the system, thus showing that a superconducting system does not have excitations of vanishingly small energy.
OK intro.......2000-04-27
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Advanced Field Theory: Micro, Macro, and Thermal Physics
Hiroomi Umezawa Manufacturer: Springer ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 1563964562 |
Book Description
This book describes how modern quantum field theory is capable of treating not only quantum field particles, but also objects with classical and quantum mechanical degrees of freedom, including thermal degrees of freedom. It thus provides a unified overview of many areas of physics on the basis of the concept of macroscopic quantum vacuum.
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Advanced Quantum Mechanics
J. J. Sakurai Manufacturer: Addison Wesley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Textbook Binding Similar Items:
ASIN: 0201067102 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Text - Horrid Print Quality.......2007-08-05
Good for you..........2003-08-16
Out of date, but still could be useful.......2002-10-08
For those readers who want learn quantum field theory, this book would probably not suffice, due to the above omissions. However, the book might still be used as a reference, and one that, as stated by the author, emphasizes the physics of quantum field theory. Covariant perturbation theory and Feynmam diagrams are given ample treatment. In addition, the author does not hesitate to employ symmetry considerations in the discussion of the transformation properties of the Dirac wave function and the quantized Dirac field. The spin-statistics theorem is not proven, but some plausible arguments as to its validity are given, dealing with the difficulty in constructing a quantum field theory for the electron that does not obey the Pauli exclusion principle. And, as another example of the avoidance of complicated mathematics, the author chooses to discuss the Moller interaction between two electrons using the (noncovariant) Coulomb gauge. In this strategy, the transverse part of the vector potential is treated dynamically, and the electron interaction consists of the interaction of the transverse electromagnetic field with the Dirac current and the instantaneous Coulomb interaction between charge densities. Only the transverse part of the vector potential is quantized, but interestingly, the nonphysical, longitudinal parts cancell out in the calculation of the amplitude. This approach may be distasteful from a modern gauge-invariant point of view, but it does suffice to bring out the physics of the problem, and it does serve to motivate the modern approach to the calculation of the Moller cross-section.
Thus, this might still serve to build insight into the physics of quantum field theory. Too often modern texts emphasize the mathematical formalism, the latter becoming more and more formidable as the years go on. The chapter on covariant perturbation theory is definitely worth some amount of time because of this. The reader can then move on to the magnificent fortresses built by the theoreticians of quantum field theory since this book was published. Quantum field theory is definitely still a very active subject, and there are lots of things in the theory that remain unsolved to this day.
Horribly terse.......2002-05-19
Oh, this book fills a gap between quantum and QFT to be sure. And it's one of the only books (the only?) that does it. What this means is that if you don't understand it here there aren't any other books you can look up. Gordon Baym comes close, but falls short and is out of print.
Over the past 30 (non-continuous) hours, I've come to greatly detest Sakurai's style (even more than when we were using 'Modern QM' for the beginning of this sequence). For some 'simple' problems, it's 'fun' that he doesn't fill in all the steps so you have to read the book in detail and re-derive the relevant steps. But as the problems get more involved and you still 'don't get it' after reading the chapter 4 or 5 times, the whole thing just ceases to be entertaining.
While the *mathematical* tools to do the problems are probably all in the text somewhere, Sakurai simply does not provide the 'cut through the mathematical [stuff] and get to the physics' insights that are necessary to truly understand and utilise the material. This is not to say that the treatment isn't 'physical' at times and in homeopathic quantities, but Sakurai doesn't do much to tie different ideas together andgive one the big picture.
Bottom line: Mr. Sakurai, paper is cheap. Use more words. Please.
Very good introduction to quantum electrodynamics.......2001-02-13
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Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
John von Neumann Manufacturer: Princeton University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0691028931 |
Book Description
Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics was a revolutionary book that caused a sea change in theoretical physics. Here, John von Neumann, one of the leading mathematicians of the twentieth century, shows that great insights in quantum physics can be obtained by exploring the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics. He begins by presenting the theory of Hermitean operators and Hilbert spaces. These provide the framework for transformation theory, which von Neumann regards as the definitive form of quantum mechanics. Using this theory, he attacks with mathematical rigor some of the general problems of quantum theory, such as quantum statistical mechanics as well as measurement processes. Regarded as a tour de force at the time of publication, this book is still indispensable for those interested in the fundamental issues of quantum mechanics.
Customer Reviews:
.. and try to read everything else JvN wrote, too!.......2005-11-19
Hilbert Space Formulation of QM.......2003-04-10
Has Strengths and Weaknesses.......2002-07-30
The weaknesses:
(1) the font is a pain to read; it looks like it came off an old typewriter. I wonder why the publishers couldn't put it into a more modern readable form.
(2) Von Neumann writes this book , in part, with the intention to dispel the mathematical nonsense, as he perceives it, of the Dirac delta function. Therefore he casts everything into the unwieldy formalism required to do without the distribution. Indoubtedly he was trying to change the dirac formalism in use in quantum mechanics at the time but was fortunately unsucessful in persuading physicists to use his alternative language.
Summary: I recommend this book for anyone wishing to deepen his or her understanding of the foundations, conceptual and mathematical of quantum theory.
a classic.......2000-08-23
Very nice historical approach.......2000-02-01
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Quantum Electrodynamics (Advanced Book Classics)
Richard Phillips Feynman , and Feynman Manufacturer: Westview Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0201360756 |
Customer Reviews:
feynmans way.......2001-04-25
The first great Feynman classic.......2001-02-13
Question.......2000-08-24
Once More.......2000-05-23
QED IN NUTSHELL !.......1999-01-05
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Advanced Quantum Mechanics
Franz Schwabl Manufacturer: Springer ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
Accessories:
ASIN: 3540259015 |
Book Description
Advanced Quantum Mechanics, the second volume on quantum mechanics by Franz Schwabl, discusses nonrelativistic multi-particle systems, relativistic wave equations and relativistic fields. Characteristic of Schwabl’s work, this volume features a compelling mathematical presentation in which all intermediate steps are derived and where numerous examples for application and exercises help the reader to gain a thorough working knowledge of the subject. The treatment of relativistic wave equations and their symmetries and the fundamentals of quantum field theory lay the foundations for advanced studies in solid-state physics, nuclear and elementary particle physics. This text extends and complements Schwabl’s introductory Quantum Mechanics, which covers nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and offers a short treatment of the quantization of the radiation field. New material has been added to this third edition of Advanced Quantum Mechanics on Bose gases, the Lorentz covariance of the Dirac equation, and the ‘hole theory’ in the chapter "Physical Interpretation of the Solutions to the Dirac Equation."Customer Reviews:
It's everything you've ever wanted to know about quantum........2006-04-15
An Easy and comprehansive introduction to the subject.......1999-11-05
numerical methods for particles in a box?.......1999-09-17
Thanks for your book , i got a good result in my exams but my really problem is to find a topic about the above topic......
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Mechanics: From Newton's Laws to Deterministic Chaos (Advanced Texts in Physics)
Florian Scheck Manufacturer: Springer ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
Accessories:
ASIN: 3540219250 |
Book Description
This updated and revised fourth edition covers all topics in mechanics from elementary Newtonian mechanics, canonical and rigid body mechanics to relativistic mechanics and nonlinear dynamics.
In particular, symmetries and invariance principles, geometrical structures and continuum mechanics play an important role. Scheck’s Mechanics enables the reader to develop understanding of the general principles from which equations of motions may be derived, to appreciate the importance of symmetries as a basis for quantum mechanics and to get practice in using theoretical tools and concepts that are essential for all branches of physics.
The book contains numerous problems with complete solutions, and some practical examples. This will be appreciated in particular by students using the text to accompany lectures on mechanics. The book ends with some historical remarks on important pioneers in mechanics.
Customer Reviews:
A very complete book.......2006-05-11
Excellent, but not as a first contact with Mechanics.......2001-11-20
However, the books seems not appropriate for a first contact
with Newtonian mechanics.
While the book makes every effort to introduce the reader to
modern concepts used in Mechanics, notably its setting in a
differential geometric context and an introduction to nonlinear
dynamical systems, the very basis of vector mechanics receives
only attention from one chapter.
This is clearly inadequate and a thourough understanding of
elementary vector mechanics and a good round of problem solving
is certainly essential before addressing even the simplest
Lagrangian mechanics.
The reason I want to point this out, is that the book is used
at an early level in German universities.
That is scary. I can well imagine people attempting to walk
through tangent spaces, but not able to integrate a simple
dynamics problem in R^2.
Please be careful!
The greatest undergratuate book in Mechanics........1999-11-28
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Classical and Quantum Dynamics: From Classical Paths to Path Integrals (Advanced Texts in Physics)
Walter Dittrich , and Martin Reuter Manufacturer: Springer ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 3540420665 |
Book Description
Graduate students who want to become familiar with advanced computational strategies in classical and quantum dynamics will find here both the fundamentals of a standard course and a detailed treatment of the time-dependent oscillator, Chern-Simons mechanics, the Maslov anomaly and the Berry phase, together with many worked examples throughout the text.
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The Semicircle Law, Free Random Variables and Entropy (Mathematical Surveys & Monographs)
Fumio Hiai , and Denes Petz Manufacturer: American Mathematical Society ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0821841351 |
Product Description
The book treats free probability theory, which has been extensively developed since the early 1980s. The emphasis is put on entropy and the random matrix model approach. The volume is a unique presentation demonstrating the extensive interrelation between the topics. Wigner's theorem and its broad generalizations, such as asymptotic freeness of independent matrices, are explained in detail. Consistent throughout the book is the parallelism between the normal and semicircle laws. Voiculescu's multivariate free entropy theory is presented with full proofs and extends the results to unitary operators. Some applications to operator algebras are also given. Based on lectures given by the authors in Hungary, Japan, and Italy, the book is a good reference for mathematicians interested in free probability theory and can serve as a text for an advanced graduate course.Books:
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