I am a math major who is very interested in Quantum Mechanics. I took an undergraduate QM class that used Griffith's book which I found very unenlightening. I've taken the undergraduate Analysis sequence, am currently in a graduate Analysis course, and have seen bits of Functional Analysis. I'm looking for a book that treats QM from an axiomatic perspective and is mathematically rigorous.
Posted Jan 14, 2011, 4:19 AM UTC
If you like mathematical formalism then you'd probably like Dirac's classic The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. It's still a useful book today, after all these years.
Did not read it yet, but I heard that Modern Quantum mechanics by J.J. Sakurai is very good.
A favorite seems to be Intro to Quantum Mechanics by David Griffiths. You might have heard of him since his Introduction to Electrodynamics is very popular.
I own both books, the one by Griffiths and Quantum Mechanics by Cohen-Tannoudji et. al as well, which I was lucky enough to get for free, I saved it from getting trashed at a thrift shop. I think Griffiths is easier to learn from and more recent but Cohen-Tannoudji covers more.
From the OP:
I took an undergraduate QM class that used Griffith's book which I found very unenlightening.
As acetv said, I mentioned not liking Griffiths. It's not at all mathematically rigorous. I'm looking more for an upper level undergraduate or graduation level text.
However, that's another vote for Cohen-Tannoudji.
Well, now at least you know what I think of Cohen-Tannoudji w.r.t. Griffiths. ;)
My gf likes Quantum Mechanics, by Cohen-Tannoudji et. al. It's a two-volume collection, the first introduces various topics like the wave function and the Schrödinger equation and goes into the mathematics you'll need to understand quantization, which may be what you're looking for. At the end of every chapter there are a set of "complemetaries", which further develop the ideas introduced. It's a nice medium between ultraformal and overly conversational. If it's going to leave something out, it will tell you where you can look to find it.
Oh wow, thank you. That collection looks amazing, and I even think my library has it.
I came across this book too. Does she have any opinion on that one?
Sorry, she hasn't heard of that one.