Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction with Sample Questions and Model Solutions

The primary aim of this book is to cover the undergraduate quantum mechanics levels one and two. Many students view quantum mechanics as abstract and difficult. Some of the wave function and state vector expressions scare some learners.

We give sufficient explanation for every quantum system described. Quantum systems are real and there are many examples to adduce this fact. Students are expected to have basic knowledge of classical mechanics. The calculations are presented with sufficient steps for the student to follow up to the final stage.

We also give numerical examples and exercises for each and every chapter of the book. This is intended to give students, who are new to the subject, a better feel of the concepts and formulac discussed in the text. In the end, we hope that this will help students have the much needed practice, using the different formulac and hypotheses to solve numerical problems. It is the latter that according to our experience has led many students to consider not only quantum mechanics, but theoretical physics as a hard subject. Some of the features in the book are examples and applications showing that quantum mechanics is not abstract but a rather an integral part of our daily lives. There are a few sections which appear to be a little advanced. These are included for completeness. A curious student may read those sections too.

The authors are grateful to Prof. Ezra K. S. Mugambe for his comments drawn from his long experience of teaching quantum mechanics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We would like to thank the physics major students of the years between 2000 and 2016 who attended the quantum mechanics lectures. Their comments helped us to improve the carlier versions of this monograph, particularly, to include some illustrations in the text