Baym G. Lectures on Quantum Mechanics

Boca Raton, London, New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. — XII, 594 p. — First published 1969.These lecture notes comprise a three-semester graduate course in quantum mechanics at the University of Illinois. There are a number of texts which present the basic topics very well; but since a fair quantity of the material discussed in my course was not available to the students in elementary quantum mechanics books, I was asked to prepare written notes. In retrospect these lecture notes seemed sufficiently interesting to warrant their publication in this format. The notes, presented here in slightly revised form, consitutute a self-contained course in quantum mechanics from first principles to elementary and relativistic one-particle mechanics. Prerequisite to reading these notes is some familiarity with elementary quantum mechanics, at least at the undergraduate level. Preferably the reader should already have met the uncertainty principle and the concept of a wave function. Prerequisites also include sufficient acquaintance with complex cariables to be able to do simple contour integrals and to understand words such as "poles" and "branch cuts." An elementary knowledge of Fourier transforms and series is necessary. I also assume an awareness of classical electrodynamics.Baym provides a degree of physical intuition that is not found in the standard texts. Especially good is Baym's discussion of creation and annihilation operators as well as Fermi's Golden Rule. Baym also provides a good treatment of the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations, the relativistic analogues of the Schrodinger equation for Bosons and Fermions. In general, Baym seems to have the intention of supplying the reader with the necessary preparation for the study of quantum field theory.This book is simply charming. In any case, it is another classic. It is very physical and very specific, which means it's easy to learn from.Photon Polarization
Neutral K Mesons
The Motion of Particles in Quantum Mechanics
Potential Problems, Mostly in One Dimension
Equations of Motion for Operators
Orbital Angular Momentum and Central Potentials
The Hydrogen Atom
Cooper Pairs
Potential Scattering
Coulomb Scattering
Stationary State Perturbation Theory
Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory
Interaction of Radiation with Matter
Spin 1/2
Addition of Angular Momenta
Isotopic Spin
Rotations and Tensor Operators
Identical Particles
Second Quantization
Atoms
Molecules
Relativistic Spin Zero Particles: Klein-Gordon Equation
Relativistic Spin 1/2 Particles: Dirac EquationIndex