Quantum Mechanics: An Accessible Introduction (Second Edition)

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to quantum mechanics from the ground up. It is designed to be completely self-contained and assumes very little knowledge or mathematical background on the part of students as it takes them through the major topics of quantum mechanics. Designed to be appropriate for students across a wide range of abilities and backgrounds, this book will be particularly helpful for students who might lack some of the mathematical background typically assumed in an undergraduate quantum mechanics course. The book includes three "math interludes" covering such topics as complex numbers, linear operators, vector spaces, and matrix manipulation. The book also discusses some interesting modern applications of quantum mechanics: magnetic resonance imaging and quantum computing, and it concludes with an introduction to relativistic quantum theory. This second edition includes expanded and improved coverage of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the use of ladder operators to solve the harmonic oscillator, as well as the treatment of the Lamb shift.