Principles of Quantum Mechanics is a
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...
by
Ramamurti Shankar
Ramamurti Shankar (born April 28, 1947) is the Josiah Willard Gibbs professor of Physics at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Education
He received his B. Tech in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, I ...
. The book has been through two editions. It is used in many college courses around the world.
Contents
# Mathematical Introduction
# Review of
Classical Mechanics
Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classical ...
# All Is Not Well with Classical Mechanics
#
The Postulates – a General Discussion
# Simple Problems in One Dimension
# The Classical Limit
# The
Harmonic Oscillator
In classical mechanics, a harmonic oscillator is a system that, when displaced from its Mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium position, experiences a restoring force ''F'' Proportionality (mathematics), proportional to the displacement ''x'':
\v ...
# The
Path Integral Formulation
The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics. It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional in ...
of Quantum Theory
# The Heisenberg
Uncertainty Relations
# Systems with
Degrees of Freedom
# Symmetries and Their Consequences
# Rotational Invariance and
Angular Momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syst ...
# The
Hydrogen Atom
A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen consti ...
#
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
# Addition of Angular Momenta
#
Variational and
WKB Methods
# Time-Independent
Perturbation Theory
In mathematics and applied mathematics, perturbation theory comprises methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related, simpler problem. A critical feature of the technique is a middle ...
# Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory
# Scattering Theory
# The
Dirac Equation
In particle physics, the Dirac equation is a relativistic wave equation derived by British physicist Paul Dirac in 1928. In its free form, or including electromagnetic interactions, it describes all spin- massive particles, called "Dirac par ...
# Path Integrals – II
# Appendix
Reviews
''Physics Bulletin'' said about the book, "No matter how gently one introduces students to the concept of Dirac’s bras and kets, many are turned off. Shankar attacks the problem head-on in the first chapter, and in a very informal style suggests that there is nothing to be frightened of". ''
American Scientist
__NOTOC__
''American Scientist'' (informally abbreviated ''AmSci'') is an American bimonthly science and technology magazine published since 1913 by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. In the beginning of 2000s the headquarters was in New ...
'' called it "An excellent text … The postulates of quantum mechanics and the mathematical underpinnings are discussed in a clear, succinct manner".
See also
* ''
Modern Quantum Mechanics
''Modern Quantum Mechanics'', often called ''Sakurai'' or ''Sakurai and Napolitano'', is a standard graduate-level quantum mechanics textbook written originally by J. J. Sakurai and edited by San Fu Tuan in 1985, with later editions coauthored ...
'' by
J. J. Sakurai
was a Japanese-American particle physicist and theorist.
While a graduate student at Cornell University, Sakurai independently discovered the V-A theory of weak interactions.
He authored the popular graduate text ''Modern Quantum Mechanics'' ( ...
*
List of textbooks on classical and quantum mechanics
This is a list of notable textbooks on classical mechanics and quantum mechanics arranged according to level and surnames of the authors in alphabetical order.
Undergraduate
Classical mechanics *
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Quantum mechanics
* Three ...
References
Physics textbooks
Quantum mechanics
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