Product Description
This edition has been completely revised to include some 20% of new material. Important recent developments such as the theory of Regge poles are now included. Many problems with solutions have been added to those already contained in the book.
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Quantum Mechanics Non-Relativistic Theory, Third Edition: Volume 3
Tags: edition volume, quantum mechanics, recent developments, relativistic theory, volume 3
#1 by Brandon E. Wolfe on June 28, 2010 - 3:21 am
How should one teach undergraduate QM? Do you skip straight to spin without the requisite backing in the Dirac equation, as in Sakurai? Do you stick with PDEs and the superposition principle, as in Griffiths? Do you take Bohm’s approach and write reams of explanatory philosophical text? Or Liboff and lose the flavor altogether? There doesn’t appear to be a single book approachable to undergrads that works for QM the same way Griffiths works for E&M.
Oh but there is. This book.
For example, Sakurai approaches perturbation theory with ‘complementary projection operators’; the purpose seems to be to stay within his notation at the cost of clarity. Landau does all of perturbation theory in three pages. He covers a range of material as wide as Baym’s lectures (your average QM book never mentions, say, molecules), does so in a timeless notation without a learning curve, and retains the clarity and ‘physics-ness’ characteristic of this series. And his ‘problems’ are publishable.
It is, unreservedly, the best undergrad QM text.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by henrique fleming on June 28, 2010 - 4:04 am
If you study on your own (and you should!), there is no better companion. Landau’s (and Lifshitz’) knack for developing simultaneously the mathematics and the physics of quantum mechanics reaches here unprecedent levels. Both the theory and the applications are masterfully developed. The chapters on angular momentum, with the definitive introduction to, and application of, spinors, the study of symmetry, including a very lucid introduction to group theory, the treatment of the Thomas-Fermi atomic model, of the Periodic Table, the incredible appendix on the so-called special functions… On retrospect I realize I have been reading this book since it first appeared in English, always learning, always delighted with it.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Lubos Motl on June 28, 2010 - 4:32 am
Landau was a great teacher. The whole series is perfectly organized and the material is divided into pieces of reasonable size which can be swallowed one after another. The reader can appreciate the beauty of every single piece of knowledge. I recommend this series especially to those readers who already have some general knowledge of maths and physics and who are able to study for themselves; it is also a very useful reference for professionals. The volume on quantum mechanics has taught me a lot about the structure of nuclei, atoms and molecules (in fact also about the chemistry) – and also about the symmetries and the special functions encountered in the field of quantum mechanics. Feynman’s lectures on physics are also great (albeit alternative) but the course of Landau and Lifshitz is a standard for anyone looking for the best presentation of physics by 1960s.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Paulo (paulovol@convex.com.br) on June 28, 2010 - 5:57 am
This is the Volume 3 of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz. All serious students of theoretical physics must possess the ten volumes of this excellent Course, which cover in detail and rigour practically all the branches of theoretical physics. The Volume 3 treats the subject of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. It contains a large amount of subjects, is very detailed, rigorous, and contain topics not usually found in other textbooks, such as for example the theory of symmetry, the quantum mechanics of polyatomic molecules and topics relating to the nuclear structure. It still contains a mathematical appendice on special functions used in quantum mechanics, which makes the book practically self contained. No better textbook on quantum mechanics can be recommended to the physicists. Certainly the best book of all time on quantum mechanics!
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Daverz on June 28, 2010 - 8:31 am
I have received a 2005 printing of this, and the print quality is terrible, often unreadable in complex mathematical expressions. I purchased some other books in this series about 10 years ago, and their print quality was fine. So my advice is not to buy without being able to check the print quality first.
Rating: 3 / 5