Quantum Mechanics
The Theoretical Minimum
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
First he taught you classical mechanics. Now, physicist Leonard Susskind has teamed up with data engineer Art Friedman to present the theory and associated mathematics of the strange world of quantum mechanics.
In this follow-up to the New York Times best-selling The Theoretical Minimum, Susskind and Friedman provide a lively introduction to this famously difficult field, which attempts to understand the behavior of sub-atomic objects through mathematical abstractions. Unlike other popularizations that shy away from quantum mechanics' weirdness, Quantum Mechanics embraces the utter strangeness of quantum logic. The authors offer crystal-clear explanations of the principles of quantum states, uncertainty and time dependence, entanglement, and particle and wave states, among other topics, and each chapter includes exercises to ensure mastery of each area. Like The Theoretical Minimum, this volume runs parallel to Susskind's eponymous Stanford University-hosted continuing education course.
An approachable yet rigorous introduction to a famously difficult topic, Quantum Mechanics provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Considered volume II in Susskind's "Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics" series (volume I covered classical mechanics), the authors offer highly motivated readers an introduction to the advanced mathematics needed to study quantum mechanics. As Susskind, a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford, and Friedman, a student of his physics lectures, explain, quantum mechanics requires us to rewire "our intuitions with abstract mathematics." The book presents some basic quantum mechanical concepts, like spin and qubits, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, entanglement, wave functions, and Schr dinger's Equation, but most of the text focuses on mathematics, from Boolean logic and statistics to vectors, matrices, and path integrals. The authors mean for this book to be "fully accessible to mathematically literate nonphysicists," and it's clear that those without a college-level grounding in math will find it difficult going. As it stands, the book will work well as a companion text for university students studying quantum mechanics or the armchair physicists following Susskind's YouTube lectures. B&w illus.
