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Introductory Quantum Mechanics (3rd Edition)

Introductory Quantum Mechanics (3rd Edition)

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terribly written and lacks explanation
Review: Before you attempt to study Quantum Mechanics, try taking classical mechanics first. If you don't understand operators and all that other mechanics stuff, don't bother trying to learn quantum mechanics yet. This book is certainly not for the beginning physics student who wants an "understanding" of quantum mechanics, no no, this is the real deal.
I feel that one major drawback of this book is that it is written in numbers rather than letters and that someone who considers themselves prone to reading words rather than equations should look for an easier text.
Although, if your taking, say an intermediate Quantum course, than you should consider this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for reading without a teacher.
Review: First a little about myself. I was a math major when I went to school thirty years ago. I took a few elementary physics courses back then but remember very little. I read most of Principles of QM by P.A.M. Dirac before I read this book. However I have not read any other texts and so I cannot do a good job of comparing this book to others. I have the second printing of the fourth edition. This printing has hundreds of typos. I sent a bunch of e-mails to Professor Liboff informing him of the ones that I found and he indicated to me that in subsequent printings these typos would be fixed.

I found that I was able to understand most of it without access to a teacher to help me. My complaint with Dirac is that although it explains theory quite well, it doesn't privide problem solving techniques. Liboff's book is quite good for that. As for theory, although Dirac is more thorough, there were important gaps in my understanding after reading Dirac that were cleared up by Liboff. Liboff is easier to understand.

In the fourth edition there is a new chapter on Quantum Computing. In my opinion, this chapter is extremely weak. Shor's algorithm for factoring integers is a probabilistic one, but this fact is not mentioned in the text. A probabilistic algorithm, simply stated, is one that does not always work. For instance Shor's algorithm fails to factor the number 9, but Liboff uses 9 as an example. In fact there is a definition of probabilistic algorithms in the book, but it fails to bring out the features that make Shor's alorithm understandable. Fortunately, this one bad chapter does not ruin the book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good and comprehensive text
Review: Foremost I promise that my views won't be biased even though Professor Liboff's office is just next to mine. Apparently you can get a glimpse of the cover in the SpiderMan 2 movie for a fraction of a second.

I am an electrical engineering major and more into using quantum mechanics as a tool to solve problems. A preliminary course on quantum physics and mathematics will be useful to follow the book smoothly. Most of the explanations are well written, but again the depth varies depending on author's as well as reader's background (and is true for any scientific book).

The book develops most of the mathematical tools necessary for the book eg Bessel functions, spherical harmonics etc. My physics friend told me that relativistic quantum mechanics is also covered well (I never read this topic myself). Discussion about symmetry is also well presented.

Check out the book in library and get a feel for it before you buy. Not every book is for every one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intro Quantum Mechanics
Review: I'm currently taking AP physics in high school but my side hobby is higher physics. After mastering the book "Mathematical Methods for physicists" by George B. Arfken, I shifted my interests toward Quantum Mechanics. So I purchased this book and within 5 weeks I was learning the pertubation theory. With a help of Schaum's Outlines on Quantum Mechanics and Feynman Lectures on Physics the learning experience was incredible. The book has few worked out problems so Schaum's Outlines on Quantum Mechanics should be used along with this book.

I recommend this book for high school and college students and hobbyists.

Goodluck.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Book, but requires a supplement
Review: Liboff goes into much more detail in his explanations than do many other undergraduate texts on quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, it is often necessary to look at another book before you begin trying to decifer this one. In my undergraduate quantum course I often read Griffiths first to give me a basic idea of what it was I needed to understand, and then I would follow through with Liboff in order to actually understand it. This book was definitely helpful with a first course in Quantum Mechanics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent undergrad QM text.
Review: Overall, I found this book very well written and comprehensive. The only complaints I have about it are that it is somewhat slow, and that there is very little interesting material until the last chapters in the book (but I suppose that most presentations of quantum mechanics are organized like this).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not For Everyone!
Review: This book is incredibly comprehensive, but I wouldn't recommend it for the typical undergrad. In my experience with the book, I found it annoyingly elitist, like many physics texts. There are plenty of "...the rest is left as an exercise" and "the good student will notice..." comments scattered throughout the book. I would prefer a text with a focus that is not so narrowly centered on physics students. For those of you who are looking for a book on Quantum Mechanics to teach to a fair cross-section of undergraduates (i.e. chemistry students, mathemeticians, and engineers), don't get this book. For example, I was in the class with a friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer (and a good student), who wished to pursue graduate work in nuclear engineering. This book nearly scared him away. Griffiths writes a better text for those of us who can admit that we prefer background, examples, applications, and explicit derivation in a text.

Edit: 12/2004 - Again I find that with the passage of time wisdom and experience gives one perspective. Ironically, even though I was initially turned off by this book, I often use it as a reference. It is an excellent text to accompany both Griffiths' intro book and Merzbacher. Not a great text for a course, but then again.... what quantum text *is* a good book for a quantum course?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not For Everyone!
Review: This book is incredibly comprehensive, but I wouldn't recommend it for the typical undergrad. In my experience with the book, I found it annoyingly elitist, like many physics texts. There are plenty of "...the rest is left as an exercise" and "the good student will notice..." comments scattered throughout the book. I would prefer a text with a focus that is not so narrowly centered on physics students. For those of you who are looking for a book on Quantum Mechanics to teach to a fair cross-section of undergraduates (i.e. chemistry students, mathemeticians, and engineers), don't get this book. For example, I was in the class with a friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer (and a good student), who wished to pursue graduate work in nuclear engineering. This book nearly scared him away. Griffiths writes a better text for those of us who can admit that we prefer background, examples, applications, and explicit derivation in a text.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good book, but use another along with it
Review: This book is quality. It is very comprehensive for an introductory text, especially when covering fundamental applications of quantum mechanics. If it's a sunday hammock book you're looking for, this ain't the one for you. I feel bad for using this text in a senior level physics course when caltech is covering it in sophmore level, but oh well, I'll catch up with grad texts after the course.


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