Overview
- Presents minimal physics and maths background required for an intuitive development of quantum theory
- Offers over 50 interactive figures to develop hands-on intuition of quantum mechanical principles
- Contains a complete set of more than 100 end-of-chapter exercises
Part of the book series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
In this undergraduate textbook, now in its 2nd edition, the author develops the quantum theory from first principles based on very simple experiments: a photon traveling through beam splitters to detectors, an electron moving through magnetic fields, and an atom emitting radiation. From the physical description of these experiments follows a natural mathematical description in terms of matrices and complex numbers.
The first part of the book examines how experimental facts force us to let go of some deeply held preconceptions and develops this idea into a description of states, probabilities, observables, and time evolution. The quantum mechanical principles are illustrated using applications such as gravitational wave detection, magnetic resonance imaging, atomic clocks, scanning tunneling microscopy, and many more. The first part concludes with an overview of the complete quantum theory.
The second part of the book covers more advanced topics, including the concept ofentanglement, the process of decoherence or how quantum systems become classical, quantum computing and quantum communication, and quantum particles moving in space. Here, the book makes contact with more traditional approaches to quantum physics. The remaining chapters delve deeply into the idea of uncertainty relations and explore what the quantum theory says about the nature of reality.
The book is an ideal accessible introduction to quantum physics, tested in the classroom, with modern examples and plenty of end-of-chapter exercises.
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
- Quantum Physics Textbook for Undergraduates
- Quantum Mechanics Textbook for Undergraduates
- Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
- NMR and Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Gravitational Wave Detection
- Energy Spectrum of Atoms
- Quantum Iinformation
- Quantum Computer
- Quantum Teleportation
- Uncertainly Relations
- Operational Approach to Quantum Physics
- Quantum Physics for First Year Students
Table of contents (11 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Pieter Kok is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Sheffield, UK. His research interests include quantum information theory and quantum precision measurements. He studied physics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and received his Ph.D. in quantum teleportation from the University of Wales in 2001. He has contributed to practical architectures for quantum computing and Heisenberg-limited quantum metrology and imaging.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A First Introduction to Quantum Physics
Authors: Pieter Kok
Series Title: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16165-0
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-16164-3Published: 29 March 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-16165-0Published: 28 March 2023
Series ISSN: 2192-4791
Series E-ISSN: 2192-4805
Edition Number: 2
Number of Pages: XVII, 296
Number of Illustrations: 46 b/w illustrations, 44 illustrations in colour
Topics: Quantum Physics, Mathematical Methods in Physics, Quantum Field Theories, String Theory, Mathematical Applications in the Physical Sciences
Industry Sectors: Aerospace, Electronics, IT & Software