Abstract This chapter presents the basic elements of quantum theory, including the Dirac bra and ket notation for quantum states, Hermitian operators and their eigenstates, commutators and the Schrödinger and Heisenberg equations of motion. Simple model atoms are described as an effective spin and their properties related to the familiar Pauli spin-half operators. The density matrix is introduced to describe incoherent processes. The electric-dipole coupling between and atom and the electromagnetic field is treated leading to coupled equations for the probability amplitudes. Finally, quantized field modes are introduced and their elementary properties described leading to the fundamental Jaynes–Cummings model of a single two-state atom interacting with a quantized field mode.
Abstract This chapter presents the basic elements of quantum theory, including the Dirac bra and ket notation for quantum states, Hermitian operators and their eigenstates, commutators and the Schrödinger and Heisenberg equations of motion. Simple model atoms are described as an effective spin and their properties related to the familiar Pauli spin-half operators. The density matrix is introduced to describe incoherent processes. The electric-dipole coupling between and atom and the electromagnetic field is treated leading to coupled equations for the probability amplitudes. Finally, quantized field modes are introduced and their elementary properties described leading to the fundamental Jaynes–Cummings model of a single two-state atom interacting with a quantized field mode.
Abstract Basic experimental evidence is sketched: the black body radiation spectrum, the photoeffect, Compton scattering and electron diffraction; the Bohr model of the atom. Quantum mechanics is reviewed using the Copenhagen interpretation: eigenstates, observables, hermitian operators and expectation values are explained. Wave-particle duality, Schrödinger’s equation, and expressions for particle density and current are described. The uncertainty principle, the collapse of the wavefunction, Schrödinger’s cat and the no-cloning theorem are discussed. Dirac delta functions and the usage of wavepackets are explained. An introduction to state vectors in Hilbert space and the bra-ket notation is given. Abstracts of special relativity and Lorentz invariants follow. Minimal electromagnetic coupling and the gauge transformations are explained.
The authors present briefly the basic notions of the quantum formalism: pure and mixed states; quantum observables; quantum probability; Born’s rule, superposition, and ‘state collapse’; the projection postulate (von Neumann–Lüders postulate); Dirac’s ket and bra-vector notations; elements of quantum information theory and quantum logic; Schrödinger’s and von Neumann’s equations; unitary dynamics; and positive operator valued measures. They also define the basic mathematical notions related to the quantum formalism: Hilbert space; scalar product; norm; Hermitian operator (matrix); projector; and unitary operator and adjoint operator. This chapter may be useful for newcomers to the field, but for those readers who have preliminary knowledge about quantum mechanics (QM) they can proceed directly to advanced chapters. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Abstract Chapter 1 opens with a brief review of some basic features of quantum mechanics, including the Schrödinger equation, linear and angular momentum and the theory of the hydrogenic atom: It also includes complete orthonormal sets of eigenfunctions, the translation operator, current, spin, equation of continuity, gauge transformation, determinant & permanent multiparticle energy eigenfunctions for noninteracting particles and the Pauli exclusion principle. Attention is then focused on Dirac bra-ket notation and complete sets of commuting observables. In this connection, representations and transformation among representations are discussed in detail for the Schrödinger system state vector and the eigenstates, as well as bra-ket matrix elements of operators. Finally, Schwinger’s interpretation of ket-bra matrix operator structures (Schwinger “Measurement Symbols”) in terms of annihilation and creation of systems in eigenstates is introduced.
Abstract In the digital world, the concepts of on and off or high and low or 0 and 1 are common classical two-state systems. Quantum systems can be similarly configured, as we saw in Chapter 9 with the demonstration of Rabi oscillations. Two-state or few-state systems are so important that a powerful algebra has been developed to study and explore these systems. A similar algebra emerged from the algebra developed for spin ½ particles. While Chapter 10 discussed the spinors and spin matrices and the corresponding Pauli matrices, in this chapter the corresponding commutators are determined for the various atomic operators first introduced in Chapter 15. We then move to the Heisenberg picture including the operators for the vacuum field. The Heisenberg equations of motion are derived following the rules in Chapter 8 when a classical electromagnetic field is present and then in the presence of the quantum vacuum to include the effects of decay. This provides the first means of handling the return of an excited population back to the ground state which is very challenging to deal with in the amplitude picture. This chapter is enormously important because it sets the stage for much more advanced studies in advanced texts that determine the impact of fluctuations of the field and correlations measured from single photon emitters.
Bohr’s correspondence principle is that associated with each observable in classical mechanics is an observable in quantum mechanics that follows certain quantization axioms which can be used to explain the energy spectra of atoms and quantum oscillators. In Schrodinger’s wave mechanics, the state of the system at any time is described by a density operator in a Hilbert space. The chapter describes how the Pauli equation can be used to calculate the average electric dipole moment and average magnetic dipole moment of an atom in an external electromagnetic field. This calculation enables to calculate the electric polarization field and the magnetization field of a material.
Assuming a background in basic classical physics, multivariable calculus, and differential equations, A Concise Introduction to Quantum Mechanics provides a self-contained presentation of the mathematics and physics of quantum mechanics. The relevant aspects of classical mechanics and electrodynamics are reviewed, and the basic concepts of wave-particle duality are developed as a logical outgrowth of experiments involving blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, and electron diffraction. The Copenhagen interpretation of the wave function and its relation to the particle probability density is presented in conjunction with Fourier analysis and its generalization to function spaces. These concepts are combined to analyze the system consisting of a particle confined to a box, developing the probabilistic interpretation of observations and their associated expectation values. The Schrödinger equation is then derived by using these results and demanding both Galilean invariance of the probability density and Newtonian energy-momentum relations. The general properties of the Schrödinger equation and its solutions are analyzed, and the theory of observables is developed along with the associated Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Basic applications of wave mechanics are made to free wave packet spreading, barrier penetration, the simple harmonic oscillator, the Hydrogen atom, and an electric charge in a uniform magnetic field. In addition, Dirac notation, elements of Hilbert space theory, operator techniques, and matrix algebra are presented and used to analyze coherent states, the linear potential, two state oscillations, and electron diffraction. Applications are made to photon and electron spin and the addition of angular momentum, and direct product multiparticle states are used to formulate both the Pauli exclusion principle and quantum decoherence. The book concludes with an introduction to the rotation group and the general properties of angular momentum.