Modern Quantum Mechanics

This best-selling classic provides a graduate-level, non-historical, modern introduction of quantum mechanical concepts. The author, J. J. Sakurai, was a renowned theorist in particle theory. This revision by Jim Napolitano retains the original material and adds topics that extend the text’s usefulness into the 21st century. The introduction of new material, and modification of...

This best-selling classic provides a graduate-level, non-historical, modern introduction of quantum mechanical concepts. The author, J. J. Sakurai, was a renowned theorist in particle theory. This revision by Jim Napolitano retains the original material and adds topics that extend the text’s usefulness into the 21st century. The introduction of new material, and modification of existing material, appears in a way that better prepares the student for the next course in quantum field theory. You will still find such classic developments as neutron interferometer experiments, Feynman path integrals, correlation measurements, and Bell’s inequality. The style and treatment of topics is now more consistent across chapters.

The Second Edition has been updated for currency and consistency across all topics and has been checked for the right amount of mathematical rigor.

The late J.J. Sakurai, noted theorist in particle physics, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1955 and his PhD from Cornell University in 1958. He was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, where he worked until he became a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970. Sakurai died in 19...

The late J.J. Sakurai, noted theorist in particle physics, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1955 and his PhD from Cornell University in 1958. He was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, where he worked until he became a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970. Sakurai died in 1982 while he was visiting a professor at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jim Napolitano earned an undergraduate Physics degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1977, and a PhD in Physics from Stanford University in 1982. Since that time, he has conducted research in experimental nuclear and particle physics, with an emphasis on studying fundamental interactions and symmetries. He joined the faculty at Rensselaer in 1992 after working as a member of the scientific staff at two different national laboratories. He is author and co-author of over 150 scientific papers in refereed journals.

Professor Napolitano maintains a keen interest in science education in general, and in particular physics education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has published a textbook, co-authored with Adrian Melissinos, on Experiments in Modern Physics. Prior to his work on Modern Quantum Mechanics,Second Edition, he has taught both graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in Quantum Mechanics, as well as an advanced graduate course in Quantum Field Theory.