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Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, 2nd edn, by Ashok Das

Article  in  Contemporary Physics · November 2012

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2012.737855

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 530
his impact to astrophysics given in a modern retro-
spective.
Manuel Vogel
TU Darmstadt and GSI Darmstadt
m.vogel@gsi.de
Ó 2012, Manuel Vogel
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.737853
The Mathematical Language of Quantum Theory: From
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Uncertainty to Entanglement, by T. Heinosaari and M.
Ziman, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2012,
340 pp., $85.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-52-119583-6.
Scope: textbook. Level: postgraduates.
At the beginning of every quantum mechanics course
some time is devoted to the general structure of
quantum theory. Students learn that the state of a
system can be represented by a vector in some
Hilbert space, that physical observables are repre-
sented by selfadjoint operators on that Hilbert space,
that measurement outcomes are always eigenvalues
of that operator, and how the probability of a
certain measurement outcome can be calculated from
the state vector and the selfadjoint operator. So far,
so simple.
Actually, the structure of quantum theory is by far
not so simple. Although the above approach works for
all applications covered in introductory courses, in
particular the developments in quantum computing
and quantum information have shown that there are
situations in which this picture does not apply. For
these cases, a more general framework of quantum
theory needs to be used.
The book under review presents the mathematics
behind this general framework. It does not, as the title
may suggest, deal with the intricacies of formulating a
mathematically rigorous version of quantum me-
chanics. In fact, the authors often avoid such problems
by resorting to the finite-dimensional case. The book is
divided into six chapters: ‘Hilbert space refresher’,
‘States and effects’, ‘Observables’, ‘Operations and
channels’, ‘Measurement models and instruments’ and
‘Entanglement’.
One can see from the chapter titles that the
authors have primarily applications in quantum
computing in mind. Although it might seem to be
the logical order, I cannot recommend to study this
book before the reader is familiar with the basics of
quantum computing. The reason is that the material
can appear to be too dry for someone who does not
know the applications of the mathematical frame-
work developed in this book. The many examples
Book reviews
which the authors give nicely illustrate the material,
but the format of the book does not allow to present
some real applications. These are reserved for books
on quantum computing.
The authors are renowned experts in the field, and I
find their presentation masterful. The complexity of
the subject is reflected in the many open questions
mentioned in the course of the book. The authors
gently move from the simple to the more complicated
situations and try to keep the arguments and calcula-
tions transparent. The text is a pleasant read, and I
have found no printing errors.
Some parts of the book are particularly nice. For
example, the authors point out that the emission
spectrum of hydrogen atoms, which is treated in every
quantum mechanics course, does not fit so easily into
the standard framework of observables. They also
provide an enjoyable discussion of the mean king’s
problem, a thorough treatment of state discrimination,
and an introduction to entanglement detection.
There are also a few subjects that I have missed.
There is no mention of contextuality and the classical
Kochen–Specker theorem. Quantum nondemolition
measurements are also not brought up. Finally, the
chapter on measurements could have been extended by
a brief discussion of the infamous measurement
problem of quantum physics.
To summarise, the authors present a thorough and
well-structured treatise on the mathematical language
of quantum theory. I can recommend it to any
graduate student with some experience in quantum
computing who is interested in the foundations of the
subject. The authors have created a website for the
book on which a (so far very short) list of known
errors can be found.
Thomas Peters
University of Zürich
tpeters@physik.uzh.ch
Ó 2012, Thomas Peters
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.737854
Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, 2nd edn., by Ashok
Das, Singapore, World Scientific Publishing, 2012,
540 pp., £65 (hardback), ISBN 978-9-81-434738-5.
Scope: textbook. Level: postgraduates, advanced
undergraduates.
The style of this book is aptly described by its title. The
various chapters read almost like a verbatim transcript
of a two-semester lecture course on intermediate level
quantum mechanics. Most of the standard topics are
competently covered: potential wells and barrier
 Contemporary Physics
penetration, harmonic oscillator, spin and angular
momentum, the hydrogen atom, perturbation theory
and the WKB methods. In addition, as might be
expected of a high-energy theorist such as Professor
Das, the role of symmetries, scattering theory,
relativistic single particle equations and the path
integral formulation of quantum mechanics are also
treated. There is substantial overlap with the material
of the better known Principals of Quantum Mechanics
by R. Shankar.
What distinguishes this book from the many other
available texts which cover similar material is the
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extremely detailed and complete development of
numerous examples that are worked out in the text. I
could not find a single instance when part of the
argument or solution was left to the reader as an
exercise. Physical insight is emphasised over that of a
more formal mathematical approach when possible.
For example, in developing an estimate for the ground
state energy of the Helium atom using the variational
principal, Professor Das emphasises that the energy
due to the coulomb repulsion of the two electrons can
be calculated by first determining the electric potential
of a spherically symmetric charge distribution corre-
sponding to a generalised ground state hydrogen
wavefunction that decays exponentially with the
radius. In contrast David Griffiths in his widely used
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics mechanically
evaluates the two three-dimensional integrals involved.
Despite the evident care with the ordering and
development of the topics covered, this is in very real
sense, an ‘old school’ quantum mechanics textbook. I
could not find a single reference to the external
literature. While the central ideas and techniques of
intermediate level quantum mechanics are ably cov-
ered, there is no attempt to relate these ideas to the
exciting developments and applications that have
emerged in the past few decades. Indeed, this text
could have been written more than 50 years ago. I
believe that many students will value this book for its
clarity and detail in working out many of the
paradigmatic examples of quantum mechanics. I
would recommend Lectures on Quantum Mechanics
as a supplementary text for consultation. However,
when choosing a principal text, I am of the opinion
that there are several alternatives that better convey
the excitement and current interest of quantum
mechanics while adequately covering the important
fundamentals.
Michael Belsley
Universidade do Minho
belsley@fisica.uminho.pt
Ó 2012, Michael Belsley
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.737855
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531
Introduction to Modern Physics: Theoretical Founda-
tions, by John Dirk Walecka, Singapore, World
Scientific, 2008, 496 pp., £48.00 (paperback), ISBN
978-9-81-281225-4. Scope: textbook. Level: under-
graduates, teachers.
Do you remember Landau’s theoretical minimum? A
present-day textbook fulfilling ‘minimum’ require-
ments for a possible entry exam to become a theoretical
physicist is Introduction to Modern Physics:
Theoretical Foundations, by another outstanding
scientist as John Dirk Walecka. Of course, as in
Landau’s case, the main topics covered in the present
book are not at all elementary, and, as declared already
in the preface, the course of lectures upon which the
book is based, ‘was aimed at the very best students,
with a goal of exposing them to the foundations and
frontiers of today’s physics.’ Nevertheless, I find the
book suitable – and useful – even for a generic
undergraduate student who has had quite a good
calculus course and a good calculus-based general
physics course. Indeed, in most cases, the subject is
expounded without too many complications (both
mathematical and physical), and even when it is
particularly difficult to understand, the author is able
enough to communicate at least the basic ideas. It is,
however, useful to keep in mind that the book is just an
Introduction, and not a complete textbook, although
the topics treated range from classical to quantum
science, including atomic and sub-atomic physics,
general relativity, and so on.
A particularly well-done (and very useful) summary
of basic results of classical physics opens the book, and
– in this reviewer’s opinion – the author presents
himself when attempts (successfully) to explain how
Newton would have introduced calculus into me-
chanics (or, rather, into discrete mechanics).
Nevertheless, several topics are treated ‘anachronis-
tically’ and, in such cases, the success of the exposition is
not always complete. This is the case, for example, of the
derivation of the Dulong and Petit law when discussing
some contradictions of classical physics, or even the
introduction of the concept of ‘carrier wave’ when
considering Schrödinger’s equation. The major draw-
back is, however, with special relativity, which is
introduced only in Chapter 8, after having discussed
atomic, nuclear and particle physics, including S-matrix
theory and Feynman diagrams (without relativity!). The
natural consequence of this is the splitting of the
exposition of quantum electrodynamics in the chapters
just before and after that of special relativity, a fact that
certainly does not help in understanding thoroughly
such an important subject.
Well-organised and well-written, though concise, is
instead the chapter devoted to nuclear physics, while