Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Dover Books on Physics) - Softcover

Mackey, George W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486435172 ISBN 13: 9780486435176

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2004

Synopsis

Designed for students familiar with abstract mathematical concepts but possessing little knowledge of physics, this text focuses on generality and careful formulation rather than problem-solving. Its author, a member of the distinguished National Academy of Science, based this graduate-level text on the course he taught at Harvard University.
Opening chapters on classical mechanics examine the laws of particle mechanics; generalized coordinates and differentiable manifolds; oscillations, waves, and Hilbert space; and statistical mechanics. A survey of quantum mechanics covers the old quantum theory; the quantum-mechanical substitute for phase space; quantum dynamics and the Schrödinger equation; the canonical "quantization" of a classical system; some elementary examples and original discoveries by Schrödinger and Heisenberg; generalized coordinates; linear systems and the quantization of the electromagnetic field; and quantum-statistical mechanics.
The final section on group theory and quantum mechanics of the atom explores basic notions in the theory of group representations; perturbations and the group theoretical classification of eigenvalues; spherical symmetry and spin; and the n-electron atom and the Pauli exclusion principle.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486435172
• ISBN 13: 9780486435176
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160