The purpose of this contribution is to give a very brief introduction to Quantum Mechanics for an audience of mathematicians. I will follow Segal's approach to Quantum Mechanics paying special attention to algebraic issues. The usual representation of Quantum Mechanics on Hilbert spaces is also discussed.
Quantum mechanics is one of the principle pillars of modern physics. It also remains a topic of great interest to mathematicians. Since its discovery it has inspired and been inspired by many topics within modern mathematics, including functional analysis and operator algebras, Lie groups, Lie algebras and their representations, principle bundles, distribution theory, and much more. Written with beginning graduate students in mathematics in mind, this book provides a thorough treatment of (nonrelativistic) quantum mechanics in a style that is leisurely, without the usual theorem-proof grammar of pure mathematics, while remaining mathematically honest. The author takes the time to fully develop the required mathematics and employs a consistent mathematical presentation to clarify the often-confusing notation of physics texts. Along the way the reader encounters several topics requiring more advanced mathematics than found in many discussions of the subject, making for a fascinating course in how mathematics and physics interact.
Quantum mechanics is one of the principle pillars of modern physics. It also remains a topic of great interest to mathematicians. Since its discovery it has inspired and been inspired by many topics within modern mathematics, including functional analysis and operator algebras, Lie groups, Lie algebras and their representations, principle bundles, distribution theory, and much more. Written with beginning graduate students in mathematics in mind, this book provides a thorough treatment of (nonrelativistic) quantum mechanics in a style that is leisurely, without the usual theorem-proof grammar of pure mathematics, while remaining mathematically honest. The author takes the time to fully develop the required mathematics and employs a consistent mathematical presentation to clarify the often-confusing notation of physics texts. Along the way the reader encounters several topics requiring more advanced mathematics than found in many discussions of the subject, making for a fascinating course in how mathematics and physics interact.
Quantum computing is a field of great interest, attracting, among others, the attention of many mathematicians. Although not all quantum mechanics is needed to successfully engage in research on quantum computing, the somewhat superficial approach usually applied by non-physicists is, in the opinion of the author of the lectures, not feasible. The following notes from lectures given at the mathematics department of George Washington University are meant to be a partial remedy to the situation, offering a very brief and slightly unorthodox introduction to one-particle quantum mechanics, and even shorter discussion of passage to multi-particle quantum mechanics, as needed for quantum computing.