Reviews for Primer of Quantum Mechanics

The average rating for Primer of Quantum Mechanics based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-11-07 00:00:00 Willliam Graam This is a quite nice, intermediate level book on Quantum Mechanics. All major aspects of this discipline are treated (foundational postulates, wave function, Dirac notation, Schroedinger equation in several scenarios, discrete and continuous spectra, superposition of states, operators and matrix elements, Hamiltonian operators, commutation relationships, basis conversion, degenerate eigenvalues, angular momentum and spin, time-dependency, boson and fermions spin and symmetry of wave function etc.). This is a dense, rich book which provides lots of very useful information, to be read and kept for future reference. As highlighted in its cover, this book is "geared towards upper-level undergraduate students in physics"; as such, it does require a good level of mathematical knowledge (differential/integral calculus, vector analysis, differential equations, complex numbers and Fourier analysis). While most of the book is a pleasure to read, there are however some parts that I found unnecessarily complex and quite peculiar in approach. For example, I am not enthusiastic about how the author explains the angular momentum operator: I have always seen it explained according to the most general and fundamental definition (as the generator of rotations), or initially postulated as a natural extension from the classical definition. The author uses instead what I found an overly mathematical, indirect, unnecessarily obscure approach. Moreover, a bit too much is left to the exercises (in my opinion, exercises should be devoted to providing examples, and to re-enforcing the message of the main text, not to substituting it), which detracts from the readability and fluidity of the main text. But for the most part these exercises are not impossibly complex, and hints and solutions are given for a good part of them. I also found that, in some areas, you would need a separate book to flesh out the actual derivation of some formulas. In some other areas, however, this book is really great: the chapter on indistinguishable particles, just as an example, which is very clear and particularly helpful. Overall, a very good intermediate level book, rewarding and full of useful information; it just requires sufficient patience, devotion and attention.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-21 00:00:00 Steve Wilson Its really a primer for the subject. It teaches you concept very beautifully and with simplicity and without creating any unnecessary fuss.There are no hardcore and rigorous derivations. He either comes to the result intuitively or simply state the result without going into hardcore derivations. But the insights given in the book make up for the lack in derivations.