Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: A Time-Dependent Perspective
David J. Tannor
University Science Books | October 30, 2006 | 662 pages | English | ISBN: 1891389238 | zip/djvu | 14MB
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics covers quantum mechanics from a time-dependent perspective in a unified way from beginning to end. Intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses this text will change the way people think about and teach quantum mechanics in chemistry and physics departments.
Many students find time-dependent quantum mechanics the most interesting and understandable part of quantum mechanics. However, standard courses in quantum mechanics devote little attention to this perspective, and its relationship to the rest of the syllabus is disjointed. This book is an entirely original manifesto that develops quantum mechanics from beginning to end from the time-dependent viewpoint.
There are several compelling reasons to increase the fraction of time-dependent quantum mechanics in the standard curriculum. The time-dependent viewpoint is dynamic and very visual. It can be conveyed in an exciting and effective way to advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students. Many of the conceptual difficulties of beginning students of quantum mechanics disappear once they grasp the time dependent approach. To fully exploit the dynamic and visual character of this approach, a full library of computer animations has been designed to supplement the text of the book.
In addition to its pedagogical appeal, the time-dependent perspective provides the simplest and most natural interpretation of many of the frontier experiments in modern Chemical Physics --- from femtochemistry to transition state spectroscopy, from dynamic absorption to resonance Raman spectroscopy, from coherent control to photodissociation to reactive scattering. All these applications are treated in a unified way in this book, using a small set of conceptual building blocks.
The book is targeted for three audiences:
Advanced undergraduates in Physics and Chemistry.
Graduate students in Chemical Physics and Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.
Researchers, both theoretical and experimental, in the above fields.
The book is divided into three parts, so that each of the above audiences can easily find the material appropriate for their level and their interest.
Table of contents:
Pictures and concepts
1. The time dependent Shrodinger equation.
2. The free particle wave packet.
3. The Gaussian wave packet.
4. Classical-quantum correspondence.
5. The Wigner representation.
6. Correlation Functions and Spectra.
7. One dimensional barrier scattering.
Formal theory and methods of approximation
8. Linear algebra and quantum mechanics.
9. Approximate solutions.
10. Semiclassical mechanics.
11. Numerical methods.
Applications
12. Introduction to molecular dynamics.
13. Femtosecond pulse pair excitation.
14. One- and two-photon electronic spectroscopy.
15. Strong field excitation.
16. Design of femtosecond pulse sequences to control reactions.
17. Wavepacket approach to photodissociation.
18. Wavepacket approach to reactive scattering.
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