Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics: with 103 Illustrations

Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics is a systematic effort to investigate and to teach quantum mechanics with the aid of computer-generated animations. Although it is self-contained, this book is part of a two-volume set on Visual Quantum Mechanics. The first book appeared in 2000, and earned the European Academic Software Award in 2001 for oustanding innovation in its field. While topics in book one mainly concerned quantum mechanics in one- and two-dimensions, book two sets out to present three-dimensional systems, the hydrogen atom, particles with spin, and relativistic particles. It also contains a basic course on quantum information theory, introducing topics like quantum teleportation, the EPR paradox, and quantum computers. Together the two volumes constitute a complete course in quantum mechanics that places an emphasis on ideas and concepts, with a fair to moderate amount of mathematical rigor. The reader is expected to be familiar with calculus and elementary linear algebra. Any further mathematical concepts will be illustrated in the text. The CD-ROM includes a large number of Quick-Time movies presented in a multimedia-like environment. The movies illustrate and add color to the text, and allow the reader to view time-dependent examples with a level of interactivity. The point-and-click interface is no more difficult than using the internet. This book has a home page (http://vqm.uni-graz.at) that includes more supplementary material, additional animations and visualizations, MathematicaAr notebooks, and further information."