Classical and quantum systems
Probability theories
Three-dimensional vectors and operators
Matrices
Generating probability distribution by self-adjoint operators and unit vectors in three dimensions
N-dimensional complex vectors and operators
Model theories based on N-dimensional vector spaces
Hilbert spaces and operators
Spectral theories for self-adjoint and unitary operators
Probability, self-adjoint operators and unit vectors
Physics of unitary transformation
Direct sums and tensor products of Hilbert spaces and operators
Quantum mechanics described by six groups of postulates
Superselection rules
Many-particle systems
Conceptual issues
Harmonic and isotropic oscillators
Angular momenta
Particles in static magnetic fields
Biography
K. Kong Wan is honorary reader in theoretical physics at St Andrews University, Scotland, UK. He studied theoretical physics at St Andrews, both as an undergraduate and a postgraduate, and was awarded a PhD in 1972. He stayed on at St Andrews and became a reader in theoretical physics. His research has focussed on the foundations and formalism of quantum mechanics.
"This text is for graduate students who have had previous advanced undergraduate courses in quantum mechanics. The author has observed that students lack confidence with the mathematical formalisms of quantum mechanics. Consequently they cannot properly appreciate the complexities of the theory. The text addresses this by presenting the mathematics in its simplest form and then helping students develop an intuition for its use in quantum mechanics. This way the students are not lost in the mathematical abstractions. The book is well suited to this task. After a brief review of the fundamentals of classical and quantum systems, the majority of the book is offered in two sections. The first of these gives a very thorough presentation of the mathematical formalisms used in quantum mechanics. The second section details the quantum formalism. A final, relatively brief section considers applications. The author is successful in creating a resource that addresses his justifiable concerns about student understanding. This is a lot of material, and it may be best suited for a two-semester course. The first semester could cover the mathematics and the second the physics."
--E. Kincanon, Gonzaga University
