Non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics: Sakurai's Modern Quantum Mechanics
This is a textbook for graduate-level Quantum Mechanics. It's advantages over other texts, such as Messiah's Quantum Mechanics, Cohen-Tannoudji's Quantum Mechanics, and Greiner's Quantum Mechanics: An introduction is in it's use of experimental results. Sakurai weaves in these important experiments when they can be used to motivate the theoretical development. The beginning, using the Stern-Gerlach experiment to introduce the subject, is the best I have ever encountered.
I’m surprised to see Sakurai here rather than Griffiths. The latter is the
classic undergraduate introduction, which would seem better targeted to this
audience. The topics Sakurai has that Griffith’s doesn’t are more technical than
any non-physicist is likely to care about (e.g. the Heisenberg representation).
Griffiths’ strength is that he “speaks to you”, making it feel like 1-on-1
tutoring rather than a theory paper. I learned from Griffith’s 2nd edition (blue
cover), and although the 3rd edition is out now (red cover) its reviews so far
seem mixed:
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-David-Griffiths-ebook/dp/B07G15LW25
[https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-David-Griffiths-ebook/dp/B07G15LW25].
0Lu938y
I found this book very good as well. I want to add a comment, though.
If you start reading it, and you get lost, just stop reading that chapter and go
to the next one. Read this book lightly at first, then start clarifying
everything afterwards. Reading introduction of every chapter first is very
clever.
0Mimi11y
Why don't you like Cohen-Tannoudji?
4cursed12y
What are the prerequisites for reading this? What level of mathematics and
background of classical physics?
0orthonormal12y
I second the recommendation, although I haven't read other textbooks.
Non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics: Sakurai's Modern Quantum Mechanics
This is a textbook for graduate-level Quantum Mechanics. It's advantages over other texts, such as Messiah's Quantum Mechanics, Cohen-Tannoudji's Quantum Mechanics, and Greiner's Quantum Mechanics: An introduction is in it's use of experimental results. Sakurai weaves in these important experiments when they can be used to motivate the theoretical development. The beginning, using the Stern-Gerlach experiment to introduce the subject, is the best I have ever encountered.