Physics

An accessible introduction to advanced quantum theory, this textbook focuses on its practical applications and is ideal for graduate students in physics.

In this updated and expanded second edition of a well-received and invaluable textbook, Prof. Dick emphasizes the importance of advanced quantum mechanics for materials science and all experimental techniques which employ photon absorption, emission, or scattering. Important aspects of introductory quantum mechanics are covered in the first seven chapters to make the subject self-contained and accessible for a wide audience. Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Materials and Photons can therefore be used for advanced undergraduate courses and introductory graduate courses which are targeted towards students with diverse academic backgrounds from the Natural Sciences or Engineering. To enhance this inclusive aspect of making the subject as accessible as possible Appendices A and B also provide introductions to Lagrangian mechanics and the covariant formulation of electrodynamics. This second edition includes an additional 62 new problems as well as expanded sections on relativistic quantum fields and applications of quantum electrodynamics. Other special features include an introduction to Lagrangian field theory and an integrated discussion of transition amplitudes with discrete or continuous initial or final states. Once students have acquired an understanding of basic quantum mechanics and classical field theory, canonical field quantization is easy. Furthermore, the integrated discussion of transition amplitudes naturally leads to the notions of transition probabilities, decay rates, absorption cross sections and scattering cross sections, which are important for all experimental techniques that use photon probes.

This book provides a coherent introduction to Gutzwiller’s trace formula accessible to well-prepared science, mathematics, and engineering students who have taken introductory courses in linear algebra, classical, and quantum mechanics. In addition to providing an enrichment of the undergraduate curriculum, this book may serve as the primary text for graduate courses on semiclassical methods. Since periodic-orbit expansions may be used to solve all types of wave systems that typically occur in mathematics, phyics, and engineering, this book is attractice for professional scientists and engineers as well. Following a thorough review of elementary concepts in classical and quantum mechanics the reader is introduced to the idea of classical periodic orbits, the foundation of Gutzwiller’s approach to quantum spectra. The trace formula itself is derived following an introduction to Feynman’s path integrals. Numerous applications, including the exact solutions of “unsolvable” one-dimensional quantum problems, illustrate the power of Gutzwiller’s method. Worked examples throughout the text illustrate the material and provide immediate “hands-on” demonstrations of tools and concepts just learned. Problems at the end of each section invite the reader to consolidate the acquired knowledge.

In the last few decades quantum theory has experienced an extensive revival owing to the rapid development of quantum information and quantum technologies. Based on a series of courses taught by the authors, the book takes the reader on a journey from the beginnings of quantum theory in the early twentieth century to the realm of quantum-information processing in the twenty-first. The central aim of this textbook, therefore, is to offer a detailed introduction to quantum theory that covers both physical and information-theoretic aspects, with a particular focus on the concept of entanglement and its characteristics, variants, and applications. Suitable for undergraduate students in physics and related subjects who encounter quantum mechanics for the first time, this book also serves as a resource for graduate students who want to engage with more advanced topics, offering a collection of derivations, proofs, technical methods, and references for graduate students and more experienced readers engaged with teaching and active research. The book is divided into three parts: Part I - Quantum Mechanics, Part II - Entanglement and Non-Locality, and Part III - Advanced Topics in Modern Quantum Physics. Part I provides a modern view on quantum mechanics, a central topic of theoretical physics. Part II is dedicated to the foundations of quantum mechanics and entanglement: starting with density operators, hidden-variable theories, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox, and Bell Inequalities, but also touching upon philosophical questions, followed by a deeper study of entanglement-based quantum communication protocols like teleportation, before giving a detailed exposition of entanglement theory, including tools for the detection and quantification of entanglement. Part III is intended as a collection of standalone chapters to supplement the contents of Parts I and II, covering more advanced topics such as classical and quantum entropies, quantum operations and measurements, decoherence, quantum metrology and quantum optics, and entanglement in particle physics.

This graduate-level text is based on a course in advanced quantum mechanics, taught many times at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Topics include propagator methods, scattering theory, charged particle interactions, alternate approximate methods, and Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations. Problems appear in the flow of the discussion, rather than at the end of chapters. 1992 edition.

Renowned physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson is famous for his work in quantum mechanics, nuclear weapons policy and bold visions for the future of humanity. In the 1940s, he was responsible for demonstrating the equivalence of the two formulations of quantum electrodynamics OCo Richard Feynman''s diagrammatic path integral formulation and the variational methods developed by Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonoga OCo showing the mathematical consistency of QED. This invaluable volume comprises the legendary lectures on quantum electrodynamics first given by Dyson at Cornell University in 1951. The late theorist Edwin Thompson Jaynes once remarked, OC For a generation of physicists they were the happy medium: clearer and better motivated than Feynman, and getting to the point faster than SchwingerOCO. This edition has been printed on the 60th anniversary of the Cornell lectures, and includes a foreword by science historian David Kaiser, as well as notes from Dyson''s lectures at the Les Houches Summer School of Theoretical Physics in 1954. The Les Houches lectures, described as a supplement to the original Cornell notes, provide a more detailed look at field theory, a careful and rigorous derivation of Fermi''s Golden Rule, and a masterful treatment of renormalization and Ward''s Identity. Future generations of physicists are bound to read these lectures with pleasure, benefiting from the lucid style that is so characteristic of Dyson''s exposition.