Quantum Mechanics Volume 1

Beginning students of quantum mechanics frequently experience difficulties separating essential underlying principles from the specific examples to which these principles have been historically applied. Nobel-Prize-winner Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his colleagues have written this book to eliminate precisely these difficulties. Fourteen chapters provide a clarity of organization, careful attention to pedagogical details, and a wealth of topics and examples which make this work a textbook as well as a timeless reference, allowing to tailor courses to meet students' specific needs.

Each chapter starts with a clear exposition of the problem which is then treated, and logically develops the physical and mathematical concept. These chapters emphasize the underlying principles of the material, undiluted by extensive references to applications and practical examples which are put into complementary sections. The book begins with a qualitative introduction to quantum mechanical ideas using simple optical analogies and continues with a systematic and thorough presentation of the mathematical tools and postulates of quantum mechanics as well as a discussion of their physical content. Applications follow, starting with the simplest ones like e.g. the harmonic oscillator, and becoming gradually more complicated (the hydrogen atom, approximation methods, etc.). The complementary sections each expand this basic knowledge, supplying a wide range of applications and related topics as well as detailed expositions of a large number of special problems and more advanced topics, integrated as an essential portion of the text.

This didactically unrivalled textbook and timeless reference by Nobel Prize Laureate Claude Cohen-Tannoudji separates essential underlying principles of quantum mechanics from specific applications and practical examples and deals with each of them in a different section. Chapters emphasize principles; complementary sections supply applications. The book provides a qualitative introduction to quantum mechanical ideas; a systematic, complete and elaborate presentation of all the mathematical tools and postulates needed, including a discussion of their physical content and applications.

The book is recommended on a regular basis by lecturers of undergraduate courses.

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, born in Constantine (Algeria) in 1933, studied at the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure in Paris, where he received a postdoctoral lecture qualification in 1962. In 1973 he was accepted at the Coll?ge de France, and in 1981 became a member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1997, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on laser cooling of neutral atoms (together with Steven Chu and William D. Phillips). The method is relevant for the development of precise atomic clocks, which are used for positioning and navigation. His is currently affiliated to the Laboratoire de Physique at the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure.

His textbook on quantum mechanics, written together with Bernard Diu und Franck Lalo?, is one of the best-known timeless standard references in this field and is recommended on a regular basis by lecturers of undergraduate courses.

Waves and Particles.

Introduction to the Fundamental Concepts of Quantum Mechanics.

The Mathematical Tools of Quantum Mechanics.

The Postulates of Quantum Mechanics.

Application of the Postulates to Simple Cases: Two Level Systems and Spin 1/2 Systems.

The One Dimensional Harmonic Oscillator.

General Properties of Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics.

Particles in a Central Potential.

The Hydrogen Atom.