The first edition of this work appeared in 1930, and its originality won it immediate recognition as a classic of modern physical theory. The fourth edition has been bought out to meet a continued demand. Some improvements have been made, the main one being the complete rewriting of the chapter on quantum electrodymanics, to bring in electron-pair creation. This makes it suitable as an introduction to recent works on quantum field theories.

R. Shankar has introduced major additions and updated key presentations in this second edition of Principles of Quantum Mechanics. New features of this innovative text include an entirely rewritten mathematical introduction, a discussion of Time-reversal invariance, and extensive coverage of a variety of path integrals and their applications. Additional highlights include: - Clear, accessible treatment of underlying mathematics - A review of Newtonian, Lagrangian, and Hamiltonian mechanics - Student understanding of quantum theory is enhanced by separate treatment of mathematical theorems and physical postulates - Unsurpassed coverage of path integrals and their relevance in contemporary physics The requisite text for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level students, Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Second Edition is fully referenced and is supported by many exercises and solutions. The book’s self-contained chapters also make it suitable for independent study as well as for courses in applied disciplines.

This text presents a rigorous mathematical account of the principles of quantum mechanics, in particular as applied to chemistry and chemical physics. Applications are used as illustrations of the basic theory. The first two chapters serve as an introduction to quantum theory, although it is assumed that the reader has been exposed to elementary quantum mechanics as part of an undergraduate physical chemistry or atomic physics course. Following a discussion of wave motion leading to Schrödinger's wave mechanics, the postulates of quantum mechanics are presented along with essential mathematical concepts and techniques. The postulates are rigorously applied to the harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, the hydrogen atom, the variation method, perturbation theory, and nuclear motion. Modern theoretical concepts such as hermitian operators, Hilbert space, Dirac notation, and ladder operators are introduced and used throughout. This text is appropriate for beginning graduate students in chemistry, chemical physics, molecular physics and materials science.

Focusing on the principles of quantum mechanics, this text for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students introduces and resolves special physical problems with more than 100 exercises. 1967 edition.

The book considers foundational thinking in quantum theory, focusing on the role the fundamental principles and principle thinking there, including thinking that leads to the invention of new principles, which is, the book contends, one of the ultimate achievements of theoretical thinking in physics and beyond. The focus on principles, prominent during the rise and in the immediate aftermath of quantum theory, has been uncommon in more recent discussions and debates concerning it. The book argues, however, that exploring the fundamental principles and principle thinking is exceptionally helpful in addressing the key issues at stake in quantum foundations and the seemingly interminable debates concerning them. Principle thinking led to major breakthroughs throughout the history of quantum theory, beginning with the old quantum theory and quantum mechanics, the first definitive quantum theory, which it remains within its proper (nonrelativistic) scope. It has, the book also argues, been equally important in quantum field theory, which has been the frontier of quantum theory for quite a while now, and more recently, in quantum information theory, where principle thinking was given new prominence. The approach allows the book to develop a new understanding of both the history and philosophy of quantum theory, from Planck’s quantum to the Higgs boson, and beyond, and of the thinking the key founding figures, such as Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and Dirac, as well as some among more recent theorists. The book also extensively considers the nature of quantum probability, and contains a new interpretation of quantum mechanics, “the statistical Copenhagen interpretation.” Overall, the book’s argument is guided by what Heisenberg called “the spirit of Copenhagen,” which is defined by three great divorces from the preceding foundational thinking in physics—reality from realism, probability from causality, and locality from relativity—and defined the fundamental principles of quantum theory accordingly.

Nobel Laureate discusses quantum theory, uncertainty, wave mechanics, work of Dirac, Schroedinger, Compton, Einstein, others. "An authoritative statement of Heisenberg's views on this aspect of the quantum theory." — Nature.

I am very happy to accept the translators' invitation to write a few lines of introduction to this book. Of course, there is little need to explain the author. Pauli's first famous work, his article on the theory of relativity in the Encyklopädie der Mathematischen Wissenschaften was written at the age of twenty. He afterwards took part in the development of atomic physics from the still essentially classical picture of Bohr's early work to the true quantum mechanics. Thereafter, some of his work concerned the treatment of problems in the framework of the new theory, especially his paper on the hydrogen atom following the matrix method without recourse to Schrodinger's analytic form of the theory. His greatest achievement, the exclusion principle, generally known today under his own name as the Pauli principle, that governs the quantum theory of all problems including more than one electron, preceded the basic work of Heisenberg and Schrodinger, and brought him the Nobel prize. It includes the mathematical treatment of the spin by means of the now so well known Pauli matrices. In 1929, in a paper with Heisenberg, he laid the foundation of quantum electrodynamics and, in doing so, to the whole theory of quantized wave fields which was to become the via regia of access to elementary particle physics, since here for the first time processes of generation and annihilation of particles could be described for the case of the photons.

The second edition of this book deals, as the first, with the foundations of classical physics from the 'symplectic' point of view, and of quantum mechanics from the 'metaplectic' point of view. We have revised and augmented the topics studied in the first edition in the light of new results, and added several new sections. The Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics is discussed in detail. Phase space quantization is achieved using the 'principle of the symplectic camel', which is a deep topological property of Hamiltonian flows. We introduce the notion of 'quantum blob', which can be viewed as the fundamental phase space unit. The mathematical tools developed in this book are the theory of the symplectic and metaplectic group, the Maslov index in a rigorous form, and the Leray index of a pair of Lagrangian planes. The concept of the 'metatron' is introduced, in connection with the Bohmian theory of motion. The short-time behavior of the propagator is studied and applied to the quantum Zeno effect.

A complete explanation of quantum mechanics, from its early non-relativistic formulation to the complex field theories used so extensively in modern theoretical research, this volume assumes no specialized knowledge of the subject. It stresses relativistic quantum mechanics, since this subject plays such an important role in research, explaining the principles clearly and imparting an accurate understanding of abstract concepts. This text deals with quantum mechanics from its earliest developments, covering both the quantum mechanics of wave fields and the older quantum theory of particles. The final chapter culminates with the author's presentation of his revolutionary theory of fundamental length--a concept designed to meet many of quantum theory's longstanding basic difficulties.

DIVHistorical, theoretical survey with many insights, much hard-to-find material. Hamilton’s principle, Hamilton-Jacobi equation, etc. /div