Quantum Mechanics Done Right - by James K Freericks (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This open access book develops the world of quantum physics without the onerous math prerequisites of all other texts. Rather than taking just a descriptive approach, or the conventional higher-math approach, this book develops rigorous quantum mechanics beginning at the level of a nonscientist. It is appropriate for advanced high-school students, lifelong learners, citizen scientists, undergraduate students, graduate students, and even current practitioners, engaging a wide group of topics that require no math beyond high-school level. It will also inspire college and high school instructors looking for new ways to introduce quantum ideas without advanced math. It provides the formal training needed for future work in quantum science and technology.

The book begins by employing Feynman's methodology to explain many mysterious concepts of quantum mechanics using only high-school math yet covering advanced ideas. It then develops formalism and abstraction while covering undergraduate topics including spin, harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, nonrelativistic hydrogen, and particle in a box. The book concludes with an advanced treatment of graduate-level topics including time evolution, relativistic hydrogen, Heisenberg spin model, bosons and fermions, quantum simulation, second quantization, and quantum measurements. The math never advances beyond complex numbers and linear algebra and is fully self-contained. This volume, the first of two, covers conceptual ideas and quantum-mechanical reasoning, followed by developments in single-particle quantum mechanics focused on static properties. It is followed by Volume 2 which covers advanced topics including dynamics, relativity, many-body physics, electron correlations, decoherence, quantization of light, and measurement.

Many topics are treated at a level similar to state-of-the-art of research, beyond what is typically covered in graduate quantum courses. There is no longer any excuse not to learn about one of the most fascinating developments of human knowledge. Prepare yourself for the second quantum revolution. This book can make everyone into a quantum mechanic. Even you!

From the Back Cover

This open access book develops the world of quantum physics without the onerous math prerequisites of all other texts. Rather than taking just a descriptive approach, or the conventional higher-math approach, this book develops rigorous quantum mechanics beginning at the level of a nonscientist. It is appropriate for advanced high-school students, lifelong learners, citizen scientists, undergraduate students, graduate students, and even current practitioners, engaging a wide group of topics that require no math beyond high-school level. It will also inspire college and high school instructors looking for new ways to introduce quantum ideas without advanced math. It provides the formal training needed for future work in quantum science and technology.

The book begins by employing Feynman's methodology to explain many mysterious concepts of quantum mechanics using only high-school math yet covering advanced ideas. It then develops formalism and abstraction while covering undergraduate topics including spin, harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, nonrelativistic hydrogen, and particle in a box. The book concludes with an advanced treatment of graduate-level topics including time evolution, relativistic hydrogen, Heisenberg spin model, bosons and fermions, quantum simulation, second quantization, and quantum measurements. The math never advances beyond complex numbers and linear algebra and is fully self-contained. This volume, the first of two, covers conceptual ideas and quantum-mechanical reasoning, followed by developments in single-particle quantum mechanics focused on static properties. It is followed by Volume 2 which covers advanced topics including dynamics, relativity, many-body physics, electron correlations, decoherence, quantization of light, and measurement.

Many topics are treated at a level similar to state-of-the-art of research, beyond what is typically covered in graduate quantum courses. There is no longer any excuse not to learn about one of the most fascinating developments of human knowledge. Prepare yourself for the second quantum revolution. This book can make everyone into a quantum mechanic. Even you!

About the Author

James Freericks is passionate about making quantum mechanics more widely accessible in order to prepare more students for the second quantum revolution. Indeed, he believes everyone can become a quantum mechanic! Educated at Princeton University (1985) and the University of California, Berkeley (1987, 1991), he held postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and at the University of California, Davis before moving to Georgetown University in 1994. He is a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society and has won awards from the Alpha Sigma Nu Society, the Office of Naval Research, edX, and Georgetown University. He is currently Professor and McDevitt Chair in the Department of Physics.

His research has spanned the fields of superconductivity, transport in strongly correlated materials, ultracold atoms in optical lattices, dynamical mean-field theory, ion-trap-based quantum simulation, nonequilibrium many-body physics, mathematical physics, quantum computing, quantum chemistry, and quantum pedagogy. He volunteers by offering three classes annually on edX in mathematical methods and quantum mechanics. He has served as the Secretary-Treasurer and as the Councillor for the Division of Computational Physics at the American Physical Society and as the Treasurer of the American Association of Physics Teachers.