Introduction to Quantum Physics (M.I.T. Introductory Physics Series) 1st Edition by A.P. French (PDF)

Description

Quantum physics concerns the behavior of the smallest things we know. These smallest things are very small indeed. Although the world of the very small is remote from our senses, it shapes everyday experience. Almost everything we touch and see (together with nerve impulses and light, the messengers of touch and sight) owes its character to the subtle architecture of atoms and molecules, an architecture whose building code is quantum mechanics. And when we come to large-scale phenomena that depends in a direct way on the details of atomic processes-for example lasers, superconductors, and solid-state electronics-then the explicit use of quantum physics is essential.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is the introduction to quantum physics and is the undergraduate textbook at M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley.The author is sympathetic to the student and makes every effort to make things clear.I bought this book to learn a little about the quantum world. I do not have the math to follow the equations so I am reading it to get what I can without doing the problems at the back of each chapter. My math is through undergraduate Calculus and that is an absolute minimum to even begin to understand this subject. I also did the undergraduate physics for science majors and that is also an absolute minimum for understanding this subject.If one really wants to understand all of the material in this book, one will have to do linear algebra and differential equations.The book lacks focus in many ways. For example, the author does not tell the student why he is introducing very complex ideas and equations until much later in the book. The author seems to assume that the student will trust that anything presented must be important, which it is. I am not that type of student and want to know what the goal is for any material.The book also lacks good pictures of what is being presented. For example, the electron density around the proton of a hydrogen atom is never shown except in a graph. I found a speckle diagram which shows very nicely how the electron density would look if one could shrink down to the size of a hydrogen atom.At one place I had to laugh and that is not easy with this material. The author went through a tortuous derivation of an equation, then said it was transcendental. This means it can not be solved by any known mathematical formula. This means it can only be solved ‘numerically’ . That is mathematician talk for trial and error. This means that only a computer can do these equations in a rapid fashion, and even then it takes a lot of computer time.I am glad I have attempted this subject because it has given insight as to what the quantum world is about. One star off for lack of pictures that demonstrate concepts. Note that there are good pictures in the book, but not enough.

⭐I took a Quantum Physics course when I was an Undergraduate student, and this was the professor’s choice. This is a good book to be used with another title like Griffith’s book. The Mathematics involved here are not hard and the historic topics are interesting enough to beginners. This is a great choice to a Modern Physics course, but if you’re trying to use it as a main reference to a Quantum Physics course, be aware that there are better choices.

⭐This is a great book on introductory quantum mechanics written by two outstanding teachers. It covers what I call a ‘classical’ course on quantum mechanics, Old QM, the experimental basis of QM, Schördinger’s equation in one and three dimensions and its solutions and many other topics. Even if a bit dated by modern standards (no Bell’s theorem, entanglement, and the like) it is a joy to read it. Good set of problems at the end of each chapter. I bought the paperback edition and it is a pity that such a fine book is plagued by poor printing of some pages and figures, specially some of the figures.

⭐Get your Quantum Physics on! This technology is changing by the minute, everything has been based on Newtonian Physics.Well all that is changing on an extremely rapid scale…… My son lives for this change. A gift for him and he loves it.

⭐I find this book is easy to read and uses familiar setups, it is targeted at students and very approachable.

⭐This book was completely broken with no glue on the entire spine of the book so the pages separated from the cover and whole sections of pages were broken. Unfortunately, I didn’t start using this book for a class until recently so there was no way for me to realize these issues until after the return time had closed. Overall, really crappy quality for what was supposed to be a “new” book and especially one that cost me $50. Recommend staying as far away from this seller as possible.

⭐i like this book. it’s not fancy or particularly up to date with modern topics but it’s an excellent introduction to quantum mechanics.

⭐Quantum physics what’s not to like?

⭐As has been pointed out in an earlier review, this is a basic and unfussy approach with minimal mathematical exposition. It is also readable, with no highfalutin language. Good basic stuff, in other words.However, and it’s a pretty big however, there are mistakes in it. Unfortunately, a lot of these are not particularly easy to spot. There are typos in the text (e.g. “efforts” instead of “effects”, which could confuse) but also there are sometimes mistakes in some of the equations (omitting the “i” operator in an exponential makes all the difference!). In one case at least, they did the calculation wrong and, noticing the difference, said something like “well it’s not a perfect prediction but it’s pretty close” when in fact if they *had* done the sums right it would have been pretty damn accurate.Another point that may well deter modern readers is that the physics tends to focus on the c.g.s. rather than SI system of units, which is possibly due to its background and age. In places the SI equivalents are given, but it takes some diligence to go through it religiously converting.Having said that, converting to SI is an educational exercise in itself …Another negative point is that some of the photographs have not come out very well, and the details of some potentially highly enlightening effects are sometimes lost.But for all that, it’s very good at helping the poor student get his head round some seriously non-intuitive concepts, and the exercises (a lot of which give some applications to the macroscopic world) certainly serve to consolidate the ground covered. Unfortunately there are no answers given.Therefore I would recommend this as a background textbook to a taught course in quantum mechanics, but for self-teaching, it may be somewhat limited in usefulness. And for all its faults, it definitely deserves 4 stars for the quality of writing alone.

⭐Historic examples are enjoyable, but the math is boring.

⭐Good book, it was recommended reading on my university course and also the cheapest. It compliments lecture notes, particularly on the Schrodinger equation and harmonic oscillators so for what I paid I’m happy.

⭐Bit HEAVY but hey is COOL

⭐A bit dated, but still one of best introductions.

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