A First Introduction to Quantum Physics 2018 Edition Contributor(s): Kok, Pieter (Author) |
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ISBN: 3319922068 ISBN-13: 9783319922065 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $66.49 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2018 * Not available - Not in print at this time * |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Science | Physics - Quantum Theory - Science | Physics - Mathematical & Computational - Mathematics | Applied |
Dewey: 519 |
Series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics |
Physical Information: 0.54" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (0.80 lbs) 243 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In this undergraduate textbook, the author develops the quantum theory from first principles based on very simple experiments: a photon travelling through beam splitters to detectors, an electron moving through a Stern-Gerlach machine, and an atom emitting radiation. From the physical description of these experiments follows a natural mathematical description in terms of matrices and complex numbers. The first part of the book examines how experimental facts force us to let go of some deeply held preconceptions and develops this idea into a mathematical description of states, probabilities, observables, and time evolution using physical applications. The second part of the book explores more advanced topics, including the concept of entanglement, the process of decoherence, and extension of the quantum theory to the situation of a particle in a one-dimensional box. Here, the text makes contact with more traditional treatments of quantum mechanics. The remaining chapters delve deeply into the idea of uncertainty relations and explore what the quantum theory says about the nature of reality. The book is an ideal and accessible introduction to quantum physics, with modern examples and helpful end-of-chapter exercises. |