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Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: A Time-Dependent Perspective by David J. Tannor University Science Books: Sausalito, CA, 2006. 662 pp. ISBN 978-1891389238. $84.50 reviewed by Andrew J. Pounds
The word “Introduction” should be dropped from the title of this book. The author admits in the preface that the book grew out of a third-semester course in quantum mechanics and that students who have had a course at the level of Cohen-Tannoudji (1) should be well prepared! The author’s premise is that time-dependent quantum mechanics is both conceptually and formally simpler in many cases than time-independent quantum mechanics. While this is technically true, the majority of chemists still learn time-independent quantum mechanics first, so there is a learning curve to move to the time-dependent case. The text has three major divisions. Part one is focused on establishing basic concepts. The first chapter is a gentle introduction to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and describes the general ideas in terms that one who is conversant in time-independent quantum mechanics will understand and recognize, e.g.—expectation values, particles in boxes, etc. The book then quickly picks up with the free particle wave packet and the propagation and dispersion of the wave packet. The balance of the chapters in part one cover classical and quantum dynamics, density operators, correlation functions, and onedimensional barrier scattering. The first few chapters are very brief—approximately ten pages each—but they gradually get longer and by chapter seven are almost 30 pages in length. Part two focuses on formal theory and approximation methods. As would be expected, the first chapter in this section describes the methods of linear algebra necessary to formally treat quantum mechanical phenomena. The sections on discrete and continuous basis sets combine much material from other texts into a succinct, yet remarkably clear, description. Chapters 10 and 11 of the text are dedicated to the van Vleck operator
Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
and the numerical solution of the time dependent Schrödinger equation. In short, part two discusses ways to solve various forms of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with each chapter adding a layer of mathematical sophistication and accuracy. The bulk of the book is in part three: Applications. Chapters in his section include topics such as molecular dynamics, femtosecond spectroscopy, one- and two-photon electronic spectroscopy, and the quantum mechanics of photodissociation. These chapters contain a wealth of experimental (or theoretically computed) data with exercises to demonstrate how the information from parts one and two can be applied. The book has four appendices and a nicely organized index. Each chapter ends with an exceptional topically organized list of references for those who desire to further explore the subject matter. For those teaching classes beyond the first-year graduate quantum sequence, this book is definitely worth a look. While the target market is the third-term quantum mechanics class, this text could also be used as ancillary material for graduate courses in spectroscopy or molecular reaction dynamics. For a quantum mechanics text, especially at this level, it is surprisingly easy to read. It is a good, and significant, contribution to the current literature of the field. Literature Cited 1. Cohen-Tannoudji, Claude; Diu, Bernhard; Laloë. Frank. Quantum Mechanics, Vols. 1 and 2; John Wiley and Son: New York, 1977.
Supporting JCE Online Material
http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2008/Jul/abs919.html Abstract and keywords Full text (HTML and PDF)
Andrew J. Pounds is a member of the Department of Chemistry and Computer Science, Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207;
[email protected].
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 85 No. 7 July 2008 • Journal of Chemical Education
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