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This book aims to provide support for lecture courses on general quantum physics for university undergraduates in the final year(s) of a physics degree programme. The first chapter reviews the basic quantum mechanics needed for getting the best out of the text. Instructors are then free to concentrate on a group of chapters, or select components from all chapters, whichever suits their needs. The text covers key themes of quantum physics, taking the perspective achieved after more than a century of research, and emphasizes the effectiveness and the subtlety of quantum concepts in explaining diverse physical phenomena. The book helps bring out these unifying ideas and illustrates them with important examples from modern experiments and applications.
The book maintains a level of presentation accessible to undergraduates, and provides exercises and solutions to reinforce the learning process. Solutions to the exercises are available via the OUP webpage link for the book.
List of contents
- 1: Review of basic quantum physics
- 2: Solutions to Schrodinger's equations
- 3: Quantum statistics
- 4: Phonons
- 5: Electrons in solids
- 6: Semiconductors
- 7: Transitions
- 8: Field quantization
- 9: Entanglement
- 10: EPR and Bell's theorem, and quantum algorithms
- 11: Quantum measurement
- 12: Cavity quantum physics
- 13: Symmetry and topology
- 14: Superfluid 4He
- 15: Superconductivity
- 16: Gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates
- 17: Quantum Hall effects
- 18: Particle physics I
- 19: Particle physics II
- Appendices
- A Vector calculus
- B Mode densities
- C Density matrix
- D The Bloch sphere, spin-1/2, and qubits
- E Perturbation theory
- F RSA encryption
- G The Dirac equation
- H Higgs Lagrangian
- I Entangled beauty and CP violation
- J The Gross-Pitaevskii equation
- K Kubo's Hall conductance formula
About the author
Ian Kenyon is an elementary particle physicist in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, UK. He took part in the discovery of the carriers of the weak force, working at CERN for three years on the design, construction, data-taking and analysis of the UA1 experiment. Earlier he designed and constructed the optics for the Northwestern University 50cm liquid helium bubble chamber. More recently he worked at the HERA electron-proton collider on the H1 experiment. He is the author of three advanced textbooks for physics undergraduates: Elementary Particle Physics, General Relativity (also translated into Japanese) and The Light Fantastic - A Modern Introduction to Classical and Quantum Optics.
Summary
This textbook for upper-level undergraduates covers the fundamentals and incorporates key themes of quantum physics. Major themes include boson condensation and fermion exclusivity, entanglement, quantum field theory, measurement precision set by quantum mechanics, and topology.
Additional text
A highly recommended textbook for advanced university physics students. The problem sets require thinking that evolves from the chapter's content and serve as both a learning experience and an assessment of the reader's understanding of the material. I found the mathematical description and the physical insights of the text well matched and tightly linked in a synergistic manner. The text is augmented with figures (some in colour) of actual experimental data, instruments, and Feynman diagrams. I commend the author on his comprehensive and extensive development of these modern aspects of quantum mechanics.
Report
A highly recommended textbook for advanced university physics students. The problem sets require thinking that evolves from the chapter's content and serve as both a learning experience and an assessment of the reader's understanding of the material. I found the mathematical description and the physical insights of the text well matched and tightly linked in a synergistic manner. The text is augmented with figures (some in colour) of actual experimental data, instruments, and Feynman diagrams. I commend the author on his comprehensive and extensive development of these modern aspects of quantum mechanics. Barry R. Masters, Formerly Visiting Scientist, MIT
