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What is everyones favorite book on quantum mechanics (I would love understand more of the 3 generations of matter)?
by misiti3780 6y ago
What is everyones favorite book on quantum mechanics (I would love understand more of the 3 generations of matter)?
- thisiscorrect 6y agoMine is Sakurai's "Modern Quantum Mechanics." But it sounds like you're really asking which book would be good for you to learn about quantum mechanics and also the Standard Model of particle physics.
- selimthegrim 6y agoI would not just throw someone into Sakurai starting from scratch.
- andrepd 6y agoCohen-Tannoudji, Sakurai.
- martincmartin 6y agoQuantum Mechanics and the three generations of matter are slightly different. Quantum Mechanics is like Newton's laws at small scales, in that if you know what things are like at time t, and you know all the potentials (forces), it tells you how they evolve. It also tells you what states are physically allowed (e.g. only certain energies for electrons orbiting an atom). You can study QM for years without any real look at the standard model, which is where the three generations come from. If you want an undergraduate class in QM, edX has MIT's classes on line: https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:MITx+8.04.1x+3T2017/home https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:MITx+8.04.1x+3T201... If you want a textbook, Griffth's "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" is the standard answer. It's very much a "shut up and calculate" book, you'll learn how to compute expected values of commutators without much intuition for what they mean. Update: Others point out Griffth's "Introduction to Elementary Particles", read their recommendations, sounds like the way to go. If don't want to spend 12 hours a week for 3 months and still not have learned much about the 3 generations, then ... I don't know, maybe QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter? I don't know if it has the 3 generations, but it only assumes high school math, yet gets into the quantum version of electricity and magnetism.
- misiti3780 6y agothx
- ianai 6y agoDid you want a QM text or a text on the Standard Model?
- misiti3780 6y agoQM
- mhh__ 6y agoBellentine's book is a good introduction to a lot of quantum physics (you will need mathematics), and to really understand particle physics you need even more mathematics
- bodhiandphysics 6y agoHow much physics do you know? How much math? Griffins introduction to elementary particles is the standard model at an undergrad level... and is great. To understand the three generations at a higher level you need a lot of math (you need to know what a Lie algebra is and Noether’s theorem)
- misiti3780 6y agoI do not use math or physics on a daily basis, but have an MS in Applied Math, and a lot of classes in EE.
- bodhiandphysics 6y agoGriffin is a good book then (as well as his intro to qm)
- beezle 6y agoYou might also check on Perkins Intro to High Energy Physics which also links to experimental techniques.
- panda-giddiness 6y agoAs others have noted, it sounds like what you're really interested in is particle physics. In that case, I'd recommend Griffiths's "Introduction to Elementary Particles", which would be accessible to someone with an undergraduate level knowledge of physics. But you could probably get away with knowing less, depending on your background.
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoI seem to recall that Feynman said that we don't understand why there are three generations, and that it's embarrassing that we don't. It means we don't really know what's going on.
- andi999 6y agoActually just for High Energy Physics you do not really need Quantum mechanics, I think Griffith 'Introduction to Elementary Particles' was pretty good. You might want to look more into special relativity first.
- wwarner 6y agoA great intro is Sean Carroll's youtube series "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe". https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrxfgDEc2NxZJcWcrxH3jyjUUrJlnoyzX https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrxfgDEc2NxZJcWcrxH3j...
- 8note 6y agoI keep listening to that while falling asleep, but the moments where I'm still awake are quite informative
- cozzyd 6y agoSakurai, but it won't help you understand the 3 generations of matter because we don't understand why there are 3 generations at all. If you just want to learn particle physics, you can do worse than just reading the review sections of the PDG (pdg.lbl.gov) And it's probably not a great beginner's text, even though it's really good.
- whimsicalism 6y agoI would not start Sakurai without at least doing some of an undergrad book first, to get the basic concepts.
- cozzyd 6y agoSakurai is very clear, IMO, but requires a better understanding of linear algebra than a typical undergraduate text. But if you know linear algebra well, QM is pretty straightforward...
- Koshkin 6y agoThis one is just what you need: Sudbery, A. (1986): Quantum Mechanics and the Particles of Nature: An Outline for Mathematicians.
- HellDunkel 6y agoAs a layperson i really enjoyed Brian Greenes Fabric of the Cosmos. It is a great read and the chapters on quantum mechanics are captivating.