Reference texts for PHYS 518

518 home page

Some suggestions for other reference texts that you may find helpful (in rough order of likely usefulness). This is only a sampling of the 52 texts you will find by typing "Quantum Mechanics" into the UW Library's search engine. I also include at the bottom some suggested texts on group theory---although this list is less comprehensive.

Quantum Mechanics:

• Principles of quantum mechanics by Ramamurti Shankar
  New York : Plenum Press, c1994; 2nd ed.; ISBN: 0306447908
  • On reserve. Wordy, sometimes at too low a level, but has some very good explanations. Has been used as a text in this course in the past.
• Lectures on quantum mechanics by Gordon Baym
  Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., c1990; ISBN: 0805306676
  • On reserve. An excellent resource for some of the topics in 518 and 519.
• Quantum mechanics:fundamentals by Kurt Gottfried and Tung-Mow Yan
  New York : Springer, c2003; 2nd ed.; ISBN: 0387955763
  • In Phys-Astr stacks. Completely revised and updated version of a classic textbook (see next entry). Reviews are good, but suggest that the level is somewhat advanced. A good place to look for more details.
• Quantum mechanics by Kurt Gottfried
  Redwood City, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., Advanced Book Program, c1989; ISBN: 0201510081 (v. 1)
  • On reserve and in stacks. Classic textbook with somewhat outdated topics; excellent reference for scattering and some other topics.
• Quantum mechanics: non-relativistic theory by L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz
  Pergamon Press, 1977; ISBN: 0080209408
  • On reserve and in stacks. Excellent reference.
• Quantum mechanics by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
  New York : Wiley, c1977
  • On reserve and in stacks. A comprehensive though rather long text that has been used as the text in this course in the past.
• Quantum mechanics by Eugen Merzbacher
  New York, J. Wiley [1970]; 2nd ed.; ISBN: 0471596701
  • In Phys-Astr stacks. A well-known text that I am not too familiar with.
• Quantum mechanics by Leonard Schiff
  New York, McGraw-Hill [1968]; 3rd ed.
  • In Phys-Astr reserve and stacks. Another well-known text that I am not too familiar with.
• Quantum mechanics by Albert Messiah
  Dover, 1999 (originally 1962).
  • In Phys-Astr reserve and stacks. Yet another well-known and somewhat outdated text that I find to be a good reference.
• The principles of quantum mechanics by P.A.M. Dirac
  Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1958; 4th ed.
  • On reserve. Classic text (originally from 1930 so not up to date) by a founder of the field. Worth a look.